Forget Me Not
by skylernichole
Summary: in which a girl falls in love with her best friends husband all over again.
1. Chapter 1

**Forget Me Not**

 **Chapter One**

 _"Life sucks..._

 _then you die.."_

 _-_ _ **The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn**_

 _ **Aria**_

 _Why did I tell him to leave? I knew he had a plausable explanation and I had every reason to shut him out but I never thought we would be in this position. There would always be an empty void in my chest that nobody except he could fill. I always believed we were inevitable but, as it turns out, things almost never go as planned._

 _I was here. Back to square one._

 _Maybe I was crazy for telling Ezra Fitz to leave Rosewood and never come back, or maybe I was crazy to let him leave. Hate him or love him, It was the worst desicion I had ever made with my life, and, as selfish as it sounds...I hope he feels the same._

 **Seven Years Later**

I stared at the wall blankly, dishes were clanking in the sink from the party Hanna had thrown the previous night. Spencer was on garbage duty and I, was left with nothing to do.

They knew what today was, the day they left me to my own devices. Today was the seventh year that Ezra Fitz left Rosewood and took my heart with him. He bid me farewell and never came back, just as I had asked. And I never saw him once more.

He had two books published and neither of them were about us. His story about Alison DiLaurentis hit shelves five years ago and was a New York Times Best Seller. I hadn't dared to even crack it open...so it sat on my nightstand, mocking me.

I had a significant other in my life, but as fantastic as he was, he wasn't Ezra Fitz. That man had scooped my heart up and shoved a hole through it and that void was only filled when he was around me. It was like speaking in tongues not even I could understand. He always had a new way to make me fall in love with him, and while I knew I had the girls and Riley, nothing felt like it had when I was with him. Hanna always told me that one day, 'all would be right in the world and that void will be gone because I had finally found someone to fill it.'

Unfortunately, it had been almost six months that Riley and I had been officially together-we were seeing each other on and off for a long time-and my void is still there and it eats away at my energy until I can't take it anymore. I'm usually never this sad, or morbid for that matter.

I always get sad and lonely during these months of November. It was a point where I would sleep with anyone to make the feeling go away, but endorphins only last so long until the memory of my idiocy comes back and I'm left with my own thoughts while some tic-tac dick sleeps next to me, tangled in my sheets, but that was before Riley. Technically. He was my first rebound from Ezra and it was a drunken mistake that I still regret.

"Aria?" It was Hanna. I knew by the soft voice and knock. She poked her head into my bedroom. "Riley's here. I didn't know if you wanted him to come in or not so I was checking to see if you were home." I rolled my eyes and buried my head in my pillow. I shook my head furiously, growling to myself.

"I'm not here. Get me my laptop...please?" I could feel Hanna's eyes droop at my response. She walked further into my room, sitting on my bed. "You know, the more you ignore the opportunity to forget, it's just going to get even more fresh and heartbreaking." I groaned into the pillow, I didn't want to talk about my heartbreak to people, especially people who didn't understand Ezra and I, like we understood.

"Han, please. Just get me my laptop." She sighed, rubbing my back. I knew she was just trying to help but I don't take relationship advice when they're wasn't a relationship to advise.

For the past seven years I've been praying to the gods that Ezra would miraculously barge into Rosewood so that I could re-connect with him. I felt the hot fan of my laptop hit my shorts. It was autumn and slightly too cold for shorts but I didn't plan on going out. My fingers glided across the keys as I logged into my Facebook account.

 _Mike Montgomery:_

 _You'll die in a year if you don't repost this._

 _Mona Vanderwaal:_

 _Finally 3 Noel Kahn._

 _Spencer Hastings:_

 _Hardy just farted on his hand, and then smelled it._

I chuckled at Spencer's status update. The only thing separating us was the wall between the kitchen and my bedroom but I still commented.

 _Classic Hardy. Next time, he should fart on Hanna and watch her have a shit conniption._

I had gotten to know Hardy extremely well as the years had progressed. Once Ezra had left, Hardy came back to town in hopes of going out for a beer but I told him it would never happen and he was confused, but understood my anger. He and Spencer got caught in a couple of dates, leaving Spencer in the middle of a fist fight between him and Toby. Surprisingly, Toby was the first one to let up.

They'd been together ever since and I could feel their love in the air; meanwhile I would sit next to Riley and politely hold his hand and smile every other minute.

My mouse hovered over Hardy's profile. I knew he and Ezra were still friends even though Ezra refused to speak to him. Throwing all of my caution into the wind I quickly clicked through Hardy's Facebook friends before landing upon Ezra's name.

"What are you up too?" I muttered under my breath. His photo was him flexing in front of the Statue of Liberty, his information bar was visible but his likes and dislikes went hidden. He never filled any of that stuff out. I eventually found an address for his possible current home.

"Aria..." I heard Spencer's voice from the other side of the door. I was already up from my bed, running around my room looking for a suitcase. The door opened slowly to reveal a confused Spencer. "What's going on?" She smiled, I only caught it for a moment before she snapped back to a frown.

"I'm going to New York." I decided I wouldn't beat around the bush. I wanted to see Ezra, and for all I knew this was the only chance I had, I wouldn't fuck it up like I had oh so many moons ago. She narrowed her eyes at me.

"What's in New York?" She questioned, I fumbled around with the mountain of clothes.

"Ezra is." I murmured quietly, her face contorted into an even bigger frown, she was going to tell me off.

"Ar...you can't be serious.." I scoffed at her. "Aria, he hasn't lived in New York for at least two years." My fumbling stopped, what was she talking about?

"How do you know that?" I turned my head towards her and she shrugged.

"Hardy and Ezra don't talk anymore, but when they did Ezra was moving to California, and they just lost touch. Ezra doesn't respond to his emails or anything. I do know that he was moving to Los Angeles back then." I nodded.

"Are you in for a road trip?" She smiled, smugly at my question.

"We leave tomorrow morning. You'll need a companion. I'm going to go pack and buy plane tickets." I nodded again with a smile on my face. "It's nice to see a genuine smile on your face again." She cooed, before walking back to the kitchen and getting on her laptop. I heard her tell the girls and Hardy our plan. After 20 minutes of them claiming it was a terrible idea, they agreed but Hardy and Spencer made an agreement that he would tag along.

 **The Next Morning**

We boarded our plane around 9:45. Spencer and Hardy were sitting across the aisle from me, one row back. The car ride hadn't been long. We had to drive to Philadelphia then fly on a five hour flight to Los Angeles. We were about three hours in when the elderly woman, who reeked of flowers was snoring, was murmuring apologies to some guy named Edmond as she snoozed. I could hear Spencer and Hardy yell-whispering at each other.

"How am I supposed to let her embarrass herself like that?" I narrowed my eyebrows at Spencer's comment.

"I didn't want either of you to know. Spence, you know that would destroy her. Especially the day she said she was planning to see him...She would've reached her breaking point." Hardy reasoned. I knew for whatever reason that he was right.

"Hardy, Aria needs to get over him. She has somebody in her life now, and he likes her. He might even love her by the end of the week. The point is, if you just tell her, we can have a nice trip in California and she could get over him." Spencer wasn't getting anywhere, and after hearing a tid-bit of Hardy's side of the argument, I was almost certain I didn't want to know.

The rest of the plane ride, I let my imagination run a muck. I didn't want it to, but I couldn't help it. Whatever Hardy didn't bother to tell Spencer before we were on the plane, was definitely anything but good. It was described as something that would break me, listening in didn't only make me want to know what they were talking about, but what to be prepared for. The plane landed around four o'clock. We drove twenty minutes to the hotel that Spencer had booked last minute. The only problem was that Spencer only booked one room, so someone would have to be demoted to the floor.

"Aria, we can share the bed." I nodded with a blank expression, I wanted to skip the commentary and just find out what they were all keeping from me.

"Okay, I'm just gonna take a shower and talk to Ezra.." All the color in Spencer's face drowned. She was as pale as I was. Hardy interjected.

"Uh-that's cool. We'll print out the directions for you!" I nodded and went into the bathroom. I was in desperate need to a shower. I reeked of whatever flower perfume the elderly woman was wearing on the plane. I paraded into the bathroom with my suitcase in tow.

After my shower, I sorted through all of my clothes I had decided on a pair of light wash capris, an off white t-shirt and a sea foam green scarf with floral print. I curled my hair into loose curls and did my makeup naturally. I slipped on my grey sandals. The air in California was stuffy. It wasn't hot, but it wasn't cold. And for November in Pennsylvania, it was almost never like this.

"All printed out, here's your purse." Hardy handed me my purse and the directions and I smiled politely. I walked down to the rental car that Veronica got for us. Before starting the car, I pulled out my phone and texted Riley.

 _I'm here and safe. Exploring with Spencer._

I locked my phone and started the car, carefully following the directions. I came upon a house with bright green grass. It was a baby blue and off white color that almost matched my shirt. I smiled slightly, this was the home Ezra and I talked about briefly before his reveal as...A. I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding in.

All I was there to do was to get an explanation, yet I couldn't even open the car door. My phone vibrated in my pocket.

 _Have fun babe. Xoxo._

I rolled my eyes at the last part of the text. Swallowing hard, I got out of the car and walked towards the two story house that held my only love. I walked up the three steps and onto the porch. Holding my breath, I lightly knocked on the door. I heard tiny footsteps pitter-patter and then the knob finally turned. My breath hitched in my throat.

"Hi! I'm Marley!" A petite girl with golden curls down to her back stood at the threshold, before I could say anything I heard a familiar voice make their way around the corner.

"Marley, how many times have I told you-Aria?"

And just like that, I understood Spencer and Hardy's argument.


	2. Chapter 2

Forget Me Not

 **Chapter Two**

 _"Grief doesn't change you,_

 _Hazel. It reveals you."_

 _-_ _ **The Fault In Our Stars, John Green.**_

 **FOUR YEARS EARLIER**

 _ **Alison**_

I was watching the news like I did every Sunday afternoon in Los Angeles when his face came across the screen. I smiled to myself, knowing that my plan had worked.

It had been so long since I had seen him, too; I wanted to talk to him. I wanted to catch up and see if he remembered me, if he didn't then the plan would go off without a hitch.

I saw UCLA Medical Center at the bottom of the screen, I grabbed my keys, and jumped in my car and drove to my destination.

It took all of twenty minutes to actually drive there and get up to his room. He was awake, good.

"Hey, Ezra!" I smiled sweetly at him and he looked at me in confusion.

"I'm sorry...but, do I know you?" He cleared his throat awkwardly and studied my face, trying to remember me.

"You don't remember?" I asked with a fake sadness in my tone that he wouldn't be able to pick up. He didn't remember! In his mind, I never lied to him about my age, he didn't know Aria, he didn't know me...I could start over with him!

"No," he answered, scrutinizing my every action, trying so hard to remember something.

"I'm Alison...I'm your girlfriend of seven years.." I lied, rushing over to him and caressing his cheek, gently. He winced.

"Really? You're my girlfriend? Because I only remember Jackie...what happened to Jackie?" He asked, looking around the room as if she would walk out from the bathroom at any given moment.

"You broke up...she broke the engagement off and you came to Rosewood. That's where you and I met. We've been together for seven years." I quickly made up a believable story and he nodded in comprehension.

"I'm so sorry...but I don't remember anything," he spoke quietly, softly. I always liked the way he talked. "What year is it?"

"It's 2018...and everything's okay, I'm gonna help you remember. We'll get back to where we were," I smiled sincerely and he smiled back, pulling me in for a hug.

"I really am sorry." I inhaled his sweet scent. Maybe I was a terrible friend for doing this to Aria, but she of everyone should know that I always got what I wanted. I was going to win. I knew I had already won. Everything.

 **ONE YEAR LATER**

"Alison..." he started, but he stopped and closed his eyes, controlling his anger. I was scared...I probably screwed everything up for good this time.

"Alison...is it even mine?" he asked, eyes still closed, posture rigid.

Tears escaped down my cheeks, I didn't mean for this to happen. I never wanted this to happen.

"No," I whispered.

"I need a minute," he grabbed his coat and scarf and walked outside our apartment, slamming the door, making me jump.

I really, really screwed up.

 _ **Ezra**_

Alison was the love of my life. She meant everything to me. So how could she just do this? How could she go out and screw around with anyone and everyone she wants to? How is it that I was so blind? I didn't see any of this coming...

I married her and now she's knocked up with someone else's kid. Tears of betrayal threaten to spill out of my tear ducts, but I force them away.

I take a deep breath of the warm, autumn air as I stood from the bench I was on. I walked slowly back to the apartment and saw Alison crying on the sofa. She looked up at me then and smiled a frightened smile. I walked over to her and held her in my arms. I had to comfort her, I still loved her and I would love this baby just as much.

"It's a girl," she breathed, closing her eyes as more tears ran past her face. I brushed a strand of her hair out of her face and met her gaze before speaking.

"I don't know why you did what you did...and I don't know who the father is...but I will stay by your side through all of this - no matter what. You need to know that I will love this baby as much as I would love my own." she rested her head on my chest and I just held her.

"Ezra, I-" I shushed her, I didn't want to hear anymore about this.

"I forgive you, just never do this again..." She pecked me once on the lips before nestling back into my arms comfortably. We fell asleep on the sofa that night.

 **PRESENT DAY**

 _ **Aria**_

"Marley, how many times have I told you-Aria?" Alison widened her eyes at me, her eyes widened, resembling a deer in headlights. She chuckled nervously before embracing me. I didn't move.

"Ali?" I choked.

"Hey..Come on in.." she laughed as she told me to come inside. I still couldn't move.

"Yeah! Come inside!" The small girl's voice chirped from below. A part of my heart died then as I realized who this little girl was. She was Ezra's.

I couldn't reject the girl's offer. Marley, I think her name was. I smiled stiffly an entered as I heard footsteps from the second floor.

I faced my greatest fear, then, as I saw him start down the stairs. My heart sped up and I could hear my pulse in my ears. We met eyes and he smiled politely at me.

He wasn't angry. He wasn't hurt.

"Ezra.." I gasped, tears of joy rushing to my eyes. I turned away from Alison, almost forgetting she was here. I couldn't remove my smile, he chuckled nervously, and pointed at me, looking at Alison.

"Who is this..?" He looked to Alison and my whole world was completely shattered. My smile faltered and my expression turned hopeless. The void grew an extra two inches.

"An old friend," Alison said brightly. "Babe, why don't you take Marley upstairs? You've been writing all day."

Ezra nodded and smiled at Marley. She giggled as Ezra picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder.

"Daddy!" She giggled. She had his curls, I bit my lip, trying to prevent brutal tears and an ugly cry face as I watched them laugh together as he marched her up the steps.

"Aria..." Alison started, but I shook my head.

"How could you? Are you seriously that big of a bitch?"

"I-" she tried again.

"No! Stop! You knew he was my everything. You knew I loved him more than anything else!" I tried not to speak too loudly so I wouldn't disturb Ezra and his...daughter. "You took him.." I sobbed, quietly sniffling.

"Let's take this to the kitchen," I followed her into the kitchen as she stood across from me, gesturing for me to sit on the brown bar stool. She picked up two coffee cups and poured the liquid into both, fixing one the way I liked. She spoke up. "Aria, I'm sorry, but you have to understand that you put both of us in this position. You asked him to leave. Time went on and we fell in love again." Alison fought back. She was always fighting for herself.

"Why does he even love you? Huh? You were a liar when you first met. How did you get him to trust you? He wrote an entire book about it." I asked, less angry now. My hope was gone. Everything was gone.

"He was in an accident, Aria." Alison explained dryly.

"What do you mean, 'accident?'" I narrowed my eyes at her as she began explaining again.

"Two weeks after he moved here, he was in an accident with a drunk driver. He had a bit of alcohol in his system because he was still shaken up about you. It was fatal, Aria. He was so close to dying. He was in a medically induced coma. He had severe brain damage, he didn't remember anything after Jackie." She avoided my eyes.

I stared at her, lost, trying to make sense of all of this new information. What was I supposed to do now? I could feel my heart dying, I had nothing to live for anymore.

"And what? You just didn't tell him anything about me? Nothing about yourself, either?"

"No, I didn't want to confuse him with someone who wasn't even present in his life anymore," She paused. "I really love him, Aria. More than you ever could. He's a fantastic father too." She smiled apathetically at me and I was done.

"Can I talk to him?" Alison gave me an apprehensive look before shaking her head. I nodded, trying my best not to cry. "Did I ever tell you that I liked it better when you were dead?" I stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind me, sobbing like a child who'd just been told they couldn't have their lollypop. I hopped into the rental car, beating the steering wheel, making the horn honk.

Hardy was right, I was broken beyond repair, and a girl in my position could only take so much.

 **I thought it should indeed be noted that I wrote this on wattpad when I was thirteen. I figured there would be no hard in posting it here. I spent a lot of time on here then. let me know what you guys think, I guess? haha.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Forget Me Not**

 **Chapter Three.**

 _"That's what the voices in your_

 _head are for, to get you through_

 _the silent parts."_

 _-_ _ **David Levithan, Will Grayson, Will Grayson.**_

 _ **Ezra**_

I watched as Marley drew circles in her notebook, claiming it was Alison when she was in her stomach. I watched her carefully, as she concentrated on the notebook and the blue pen she was using. I was infatuated with her, the way her curly blonde hair fell on her heart shaped face as she carefully put dots on her drawing, claiming that they were eyes.

"Daddy?" She looked up at me and I smiled.

"Yes, Bug?" Her blue eyes sparkled at me, she was just a beautiful as her mother was, although I couldn't remember a single thing about her, I learned more and more everyday.

"Who was the pretty lady down stairs? Mommy looked really surprised." I shrugged, I didn't want to lie and say that I knew but I really had no clue.

"I don't know bug." She nodded and went back to her drawing, her feet kicking in the air as she laid on her stomach. Just as I was about to ask Marley what she wanted for dinner, I heard screaming downstairs. I narrowed my eyes and looked down at my daughter.

"I'll be right back." It was almost like she didn't hear me, she was so engrossed in her drawing. I opened my office door, sneaking down the stairs and pressing my ear against the kitchen door.

 _"I really love him, Aria. More than you ever could. He's a fantastic father too."_ I smiled instantly at Alison's comment, content that she thought that, but also confused at the meaning of 'More than you ever could.'

 _"Can I talk to him?"_ There was a long pause, before the girl I knew as Aria, spoke up. _"Did I ever tell you that I liked it better when you were dead?"_ I felt my smile fade, and become replaced with anger. How could she say that to my wife, in our home. Before I could barge in and ask what was going on, I heard the clicks of sandals and tears echo to the kitchen door, I tiptoed back up the stairs and listened for more, nothing but a slam of a door and minutes after, a couple beeps from a car horn. I had never been more confused. I walked down the steps and into the kitchen, to see Alison staring at the wall. I frowned and wrapped my arms around her.

"What was that about?" She tensed and turned towards me, giving me a smile. I gave her a soft kiss on the lips.

"It was nothing. Aria just got upset because I said something.." I searched her eyes, and saw a glimmer of something evil, but before I could even blink, it was gone. She gave me another sweet kiss.

"Daddy!" Marley ran down the steps, she was two-three next June. Before Marley could see us we pulled apart. She swung the kitchen door open, her face was stained with tears. "I can't find Pricilla!" She whined, Pricilla was a hippo that I had bought her when she was born. She had been missing for days, and Marley had just noticed.

"Relax, baby girl." I cooed. I picked her up and put her on the counter. "If you'd wait, I'll go look in the garage, and Mommy can make you a snack before dinner?" She wiped her cheeks and nodded muttering a thank you daddy under her breath. I gave her a kiss on the head and walked out to the garage. I searched through all of the boxes and Rubbermaid's before finding one with my name on it. I looked at the door then back at the plastic bin, deciding it wouldn't take long, I cracked it open. It was full of clothing. I dug through it, finding a few Hollis t-shirts and women's strawberry shampoo, I furrowed my eyebrows when I came across a photo at the very bottom of the bin. It was crumpled up, almost as if it had been looked at over and over again, I picked it up, unfolding it. My brows furrowed even more when it was revealed to be a man and a woman, with paper bags over their head.

"Ezra?" Alison called from the laundry room, I quickly snapped the lid back on a kicked it back where it came from, shoving the crumpled photo in my pocket.

"Yeah?" I called back. I heard the door open to see Marley holding Pricilla close to her chest.

"She found Pricilla under the couch." I nodded, getting up from my crouched position, picking up Marley from her spot behind the threshold.

"Call me down when dinner is ready, I'm gonna work for a bit." She smiled and took Marley in her arms, whispering something about helping out.

Little did Alison know, I wasn't going to be working at all.

 _ **Aria**_

I sobbed the entire way home, not at the fact that Alison was still a heartless bitch and nothing had changed, but at the fact that Ezra didn't remember me, or us or anything to do with what we had. What broke my heart the most was the way he looked at her, The way he looked at Alison was the way he used to look at me, eyes full of love and admiration. When he saw me, he saw nothing but a stranger, a stranger whom he didn't remember promising the world to. The only thing I was glad he didn't remember was the heartbreak I brought him-both of us. It was my own fault, I drove him to drink, I was the one who made him move away.

 _"Aria," He sobbed, "Please just listen to what I have to say." He wiped his face, knowing it wasn't his place to be crying and showing weakness and vulnerability in front of her._

 _"No." She whispered. "I want you gone. As far away from Rosewood as possible." She murmured. They were in the middle of the forest in Rosewood, she didn't want to risk them being seen together, not because she particularly cared, but she didn't want people to assume they were back together._

 _"I'm sorry Aria." He whispered, reaching out to touch her face. She backed away, pure terror in her eyes, along with a fresh batch of tears._

 _"Be gone by morning, or I swear I will send you to prison." She took one more safe step back before she saw him nod._

 _"I'll be gone for good. Never to be seen or heard from again." He walked back to his silver Prius before Aria spoke up._

 _"Ezra.." He turned around, with hope in his eyes that it would at least be an 'I Love you.'_

 _"I hope she was worth it.." He shook his head._

 _"She wasn't." He turned back ahead, getting into his car, driving away with his love for her._

 _Losing the one true thing she'd ever known._

I pulled into the Hotel parking lot, ready to scream and cry and all the lies I'd been living. I marched up the stairs and threw the door open, Spencer and Hardy were munching on complimentary bagels but their munching came to a halt as they saw my tear stained face.

"Ar-" Hardy and Spencer said in unison.

"I know you knew," I mumbled, "Why? Why would you let me go there to make a fool of myself?" They looked at each other.

"I was trying to protect you, Ar. She changed him. He cut off all ties with me." I scoffed.

"Probably because he didn't fucking know who you were, because he sure didn't remember me." I snapped. Hardy gave me a confused look before speaking up.

"What?" I rolled my eyes.

"Don't play dumb, Hardy. Ezra got in a car accident two weeks after moving to this city. He didn't remember anyone but Jackie. Alison visited him in the hospital, long story short they're in love and have a daughter who looks like she's three!" I looked at the ground, wanting it to swallow me whole.

"I only knew about Ezra and Alison being together. Not married or him in an accident." I slapped my arms against my thighs.

"I guess we both got a surprise this evening." I whined as I felt more sobs erupt through my body, causing me to shake, Spencer gave me a tight hug and laid me down. I had turned back from confident teenage Aria, back to reserved heartbroken Aria.

And I wished I could change it.

 _ **Ezra**_

I had been "working" for almost four hours and I could only trace the woman back to one person.

Jackie.

I tugged the photo out of my pocket, unfolding it and trying to smooth the creases. I couldn't help but stare at it, something about it intrigued me, and I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I traced over the mystery girls face, before feeling a jolt of something- I had not a clue what it was- but it was something

 _"We're taking a picture as a couple." She smiled at me, and I smiled back politely. It wasn't Jackie, I knew that for certain. This voice wasn't annoying, it was smooth and sweet. I watched a younger me take the bag and put it over my head. The blur took the photo with a single snap of an out dated smart phone._

 _I chuckled and gave the blue a soft kiss, before watching it become slightly deeper, until a ring interrupted the moment I shared with the girl._

It felt like a memory, a gauge memory of me and the woman in the photo. It made me feel sick though- Imagining a younger version of myself kiss another woman who wasn't the love of my life. I shivered at the thought. I heard a soft knock on my door, and a small creak. Alison peeked her head through my office door, I smiled at her.

"I was just coming in here to drag you into bed." She walked into the room and sat on my lap, I twisted her hair around my finger. She had something about her that always made me question whether I knew the real her.

"I will, but," I paused. She took notice and looked me up and down. "I wanted to talk to you for a second." She nodded and took Marley's chair, plopping down in front of me.

"About?"

"What happened earlier, with that girl." There it was, the evil glance of disgust when I mentioned the friend that dropped by.

"You mean Aria Montgomery?" I nodded. She scoffed.

"Aria brought up some stuff from the past, I didn't like it. I said something I knew would wear the one little nerve she had left. I caused her to cry and run away. It was harmless." I nodded again.

"Did she have anything to do with our past?" Alison's face contorted into a frown, and all the color had drained from her face.

"No-No, why would you ask that?" I shrugged, alarmed by her strange behavior.

"Alright..bed?" She nodded quickly and I followed behind her.

Aria Montgomery.

Within moments, Alison was snuggled into my side, with her phone sitting on the charger by her nightstand. Before getting up, I made sure she was sleeping soundly before running to the other side of the room to her bedside table. I scrolled through a few contacts before hitting the M category. I found Montgomery without an issue, copying the number into my phone i composed a new text message.

 _Hi. I know we barely know each other, but I was wondering if we could meet up for lunch tomorrow? -Ezra._

Within moments I got a response.

 _Sounds good._

 _ **Alison**_

Morning had come, Marley and Ezra had yet to wake and I was left to myself, after a practical interrogation from Ezra last night on Aria's miraculous visit, I needed to be extra careful with my lies now. I heard the pitter-patter of two year old feet come down the stairs, and walk zombie like into the living room and into the kitchen. She held Pricilla close to her body. Her grey and pink pajamas and messy blonde hair was a cruel reminder of my innocence. I smiled at her and lifted her up onto a bar stool.

"Mama.." She said groggily. A metaphorical light bulb flashes over my head. "Mommy.." She whined as I set her down.

"Mommy has to make a call, okay?" She nodded her head as she crossed her arms and pouted. Before my phone call, I poured her a bowl of HoneyNut Cheerios and left her by herself as I excused myself into the dining room. I dialed Aria's number. It rung twice before her sweet voice rung through the receiver, making me want to vomit.

"Hello?" She sung.

"Aria." Her tone dropped.

"Alison..hey, what can I do for you?"

"You know." I could practically feel her eyes narrow at my comment.

"What?" I scoffed.

"I want you to stay away from him, and if you can't do that and you end up hanging out of whatever the hell you two did, _DO NOT_ tell him the truth. You know why. He's finally happy with what he has, I'm happy. We have a daughter. Do you understand?" I heard her lip quiver on the other end.

"I understand." She whispered. I could hear her pathetic tears on the other end, I chuckled.

"Perfect, Now if you'll excuse me, I have a husband," I emphasized the word husband "And daughter to tend too." And with a push of a button, I hung up, brushing off Aria's obvious hurt emotions. Why should I care?

I had everything she wished she had.


	4. Chapter 4

**Forget Me Not**

 **Chapter Four**

 _"Hope is not dead, it is just larger than our imaginations; it's purpose extending far beyond our comprehension."_ _ **-Kathy Hobaugh**_

 _ **Aria**_

A wave of surprise washed over me as I read over the message for what felt like the billionth time. I typed a quick response.

 _Sounds good._

Spencer and Hardy were fast asleep and hopefully I could easily get out by myself the following day to meet with him without them knowing. I lay in the foreign hotel bed, staring up at the ceiling, trying to figure out just when things started in the downhill spiral that was my life.

It wasn't that hard to place...it was the ski lift conversation that had taken place seven years ago. I shuttered at the memory, I wouldn't think of that before I dozed off. I refused to, no matter how heavy my eyelids felt, I blocked it off as I stood and went into the bathroom, carefully closing and locking the door before flipping the light on.

I stared at the reflection in the mirror. It stared back with judgmental eyes. It looked so exhausted, yet I knew it was impossible to get more than four hours of sleep a night. I was slowly, but surely, dying in my own sea of emotions and I had been ever since that cold, bitter night when I was exposed to the truth about Ezra Fitz.

 _"Aria! Please, wait!" I sat behind a tree with my hand over my mouth, desperate not to make a single peep._

 _"Aria?" He called again, but this time I heard him rustling around in his pocket. My phone let out a shrill beep, and he took off towards me._

 _"Just listen!" He screamed, it wasn't heinous, just a scream._

 _"I hate you, Ezra Fitz!" I yelled back. Just before my eyes was a clearing, the cabin. I thought to myself. I found my car and juggled around looking for my keys. When I finally found them, Ezra was just making his way towards me. He was jogging and I was already in my car._

 _I looked in the rear view mirror to see him running his hands through his hair, and if it were any other moment in time I would've stopped and kissed him, maybe even felt bad for him. Today wasn't that day. But over my car engine and my sobs, somewhere in between, You could just barely hear him, crying softly._

I splashed cold water on my face before sighing and going back to the bed. I laid down and slept. Forgetting my sad, pathetic life just for a little while.

 _ **The Next Morning**_

I awoke to the sound of Happiness by The Fray, echoing throughout the somewhat small hotel room. I jumped out of bed, clicking answer before I could look twice at the caller I.D.

"Hello?" I sung, half expecting it to be Riley or Ezra.

"Aria." My heart dropped to my stomach when I heard her velvety voice through the receiver.

"Alison..hey, what can I do for you?"

"You know." She challenged.

"What?" She scoffed.

"I want you to stay away from him, and if you can't do that and you end up hanging out of whatever the hell you two did, _DO NOT_ tell him the truth. You know why. He's finally happy with what he has, I'm happy. We have a daughter. Do you understand?" My lip quivered as I tried to hold back tears.

"I understand." I choked, unsuccessful in the tear department.

"Perfect, Now if you'll excuse me, I have a husband," She emphasized Husband just to make me squirm. "And daughter to tend too."

And just like that she hung up.

I couldn't wrap my head around it. I received a phone call from Alison, threatening me. She had some nerve, I'd give her that. I had no choice but to obey her commands. Bringing me to tears, I hung up with her and sniffed shortly. Spencer and Hardy were watching me carefully, but they were sympathetic at the very least.

"Was that Ali?" Spencer asked quietly, all I could do was nod before a whole new wave of emotion overcame my body. I was drowning.

Ezra would never remember me...never remember the realness of our past, and the worst, he would never remember the love he had once felt for me. Spencer came over and embraced me, holding me as I cried and sobbed and shook. I was a broken girl, I was finished. Why was I even going out with Ezra? Was it even worth it?

Ezra...

Just the name made me feel better.

I didn't stop crying until that afternoon.

 _ **Ezra**_

It was ten o'clock before I woke up to an empty bed, but I knew Alison was lurking somewhere not too far away. I stretched and strolled to the bathroom, washing my face with cold water and brushed my teeth. I was allured downstairs by the aroma of Alison's pancakes and she smiled as she saw me erupt from the double doors to our kitchen.

"Hey, you!" She kissed me once on the lips and I kissed her cheek as I wrapped my arms around her from the back as she stood at the stove cooking breakfast for us.

"This smells amazing," I complimented her cooking and got the dishes and silverware necessary to help her out.

I needed to tell her about my plan for lunch..I wouldn't keep secrets from her like I felt she was. Part of me hoped if I was completely honest, she'd fess up.

"Babe?" I tried, clearing my throat once and running a hand through my hair quickly.

"Yeah?" She answered not turning away from the stove.

"I'm going out today, around lunchtime. It will only take me an hour, maybe two. Tops." I spoke. Just as she was about to reply, Marley came through the doors carrying Priscilla. She smiled when she saw me and ran to my arms as I picked her up.

"Good morning, angel," I kissed her forehead and she giggled. I put her back on her feet and she walked over to Alison, holding onto one of her mother's legs.

"Is this about Aria?" Alison then asked, quietly so Marley wouldn't really know what we were talking about.

"Come on, Alison! I don't even know the girl! I just want to make sure she never upsets you like she did yesterday. She had no right to say those things in our home. I just want to put her in her place."

"Okay..but be careful, Ezra...she's no good for you." I nodded at her, but I was so confused. Why was she so dead set against me talking to this girl?

 _ **Aria**_

I redid my makeup for the third time, trying to look nothing less than perfect for this. My hair was pulled back into a styled ponytail and I was wearing a pair of earrings that I often wore when we were dating, hoping to remind him of who I was.

Finally I emerged from the bathroom door and found Hardy and Spencer looking at me funny.

"What?"

"Where are you going?" Hardy questioned, narrowing his eyes at me. Spencer raised an eyebrow as I looked down and blushed.

"You're going to meet him, aren't you?" Spencer chimed, smirking a bit.

"Before you say anything, he contacted me. I just agreed to this. And if you'll excuse me, I have to leave now, because I don't want to be late."

"Good for you guys. Good luck, Ar..you deserve some closure at the very least." She came over and hugged me once and I was out the door.

 _ **Ezra**_

I arrived at the restaurant extremely early and waited for Aria. I felt the picture inside my pocket, making sure it was still there like it would disappear along with all of my memories. Almost an entire decade was erased from my mind after the accident. At the very least, frustrating would be the word to describe it.

Then she came inside, the light breeze blew a few loose strands of her hair around her face, though her hair was pulled up. She looked around before spotting me and I waved her over, politely smiling.

"Hi, Aria. I don't think we had a chance to talk yesterday, so I thought we could talk today," I said as she sat across from me.

"What do you want to talk about?" She asked, I looked into her hazel eyes and there was something off about her. She seemed...dead.

"Well, first of all, I wanted to ask you not to talk to my wife like that in our own home or at all, for that matter. I don't know your guys' past, but you both need to let it go," I said quietly, not wanting to sound rude or mean. She winced when I said wife and I couldn't help but feel guilty.

"I know. I was out of line; I'm sorry you had to hear that." She responded, avoiding my gaze.

"It's fine, really," I added sympathy to my tone. What made this girl so...so sad? I couldn't help but feel like I was at fault, but that was impossible; I didn't even know her.

"Anything else you want to say?" she asked, looking down at the table, turning her napkin around with one finger. She seemed so anxious to leave.

"Well I was wondering...how did you know my name?" I pursed my lips, she looked up at me for the first time during our meeting. She looked at me like I held the key to her utmost desires, like I was her world with legs.

"Oh, um...Alison told me about you," she hesitated before saying her name. I narrowed my eyes at her and she raised her eyebrows at my expression.

"You think I'm lying?" She challenged. I shook my head, letting it go.

"Well...what did you need to talk to me about?" I took a sip of my raspberry iced tea.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, well I heard you ask Alison if you could talk to me...it sounded important," I searched her eyes as she shook her head.

"It was nothing," she sniffed and looked away again, trying so hard not to look at me. But why? Was she afraid?

"Oh. Okay. But I have one more thing.." I cleared my throat awkwardly. Should I really ask her about this? Who else could I go to? Alison wouldn't tell me the straight truth and I didn't really have any good friends I could talk to. Aria would have to do.

"What?" she looked back at me, but still didn't make eye contact with me.

I took the picture from my pocket and slid it across the table. She unfolded it and it looked at it, I studied her reaction.

She looked as if she'd seen the picture before, her eyes lighting up just for a split-second. But then she looked up at me confused.

"What am I looking at?" She was lying. I had no idea how I could read her so well. I studied her from across the table.

"You see...I had a dream, well it was actually more like a memory. I found this picture in a box in my garage and there is something so familiar about it...I don't remember who this girl is...I was, well kind of hoping you might be able to tell me..." I trailed off, realizing how stupid I was being. How would this girl know anything about this picture? She obviously didn't know me.

"You remember doing this.. Just not the person you took the picture with?" She questioned, there was a sparkle of something in her eyes now...maybe hope?

I just nodded my head in responds waiting for her to actually answer my question.

"I'm sorry...but I don't know who this is...maybe Alison will remember. It was nice meeting you, Ezra." She stood and shook my hand, a thousand fireworks went off when she touched me. She looked me straight in the eye before leaving hastily. I turned around in my chair to watch her leave. I saw her through the window, wiping a tear from her face.

She knew something...she knew exactly who was in this picture.

 _ **Aria**_

I ran out of the little café as quickly as I could, trying to get out before I let something slip. It was so hard lying to him-he honestly didn't remember anything! I thought, more like hoped, that he might actually remember be and that's why he wanted to meet up. But of course not. He wanted to scold me for belittling his..wife. It made me nauseous that he actually loved Alison. Not me. Not anymore.

I quickly wiped away a tear on my way to my car; I could feel him watching me. I wanted so badly to just tell him everything, to hug him. To kiss him, But I couldn't. Not now. Not ever.

The only thing that could ever turn this whole mess around is Ezra remembering me on his own. He had already started.

Maybe, just maybe, he would remember me. Maybe.


	5. Chapter 5

**Forget Me Not**

Chapter Five

 _"In reality, hope is the worst of all evils, because it prolongs the torment of man."_

 _ **\- Friedrich Nietzsche**_

 _ **Spencer**_

My eyes lingered on Aria for another moment. "Are you sure you don't want to come explore California with us? You can't sit here in a pool of sadness just because Ezra dampened the mood." She winced at the sound of his name but then shook her head violently.

"For the last time, Spencer, no! You go have fun with Hardy."

Ever since she came home from lunch this afternoon she'd been different. Not quite happy, but not quite sad. I've known that Ezra has changed her moods before but not this bipolar-like. Hardy looked at me and shrugged.

"Okay...well we'll be sure to get you something or something," I said, I felt so bad. She's been through so much for seven years and then she finds out in one day that the love of her life doesn't even remember her. I shut the door and my flats patted against the cement steps as we made our way to the lobby. The hotel was, in a nutshell, crappy: the room was pretty shabby and the service was downright cheap, something even I could learn to live without.

"Please tell me you aren't dragging me on a long, meaningless shopping trip.." Hardy whined as we plopped down in the rental car's leather seats The car smelled terribly, the mixture of BO, cigarette smoke, and old alcohol made my nose wrinkle, but we hadn't been in it since the drive from the airport, so anything was better than a blank, white wall and pale, blue sheets.

"You're the official crap carrier." I declared and he chuckled. We snooped around Hollywood for a while, and things were not as glamorous as they're put out to be.

We headed to Venice beach. The shops were crammed and there was a medicinal pot shop on almost every corner.

"Weed love to help ya!" A girl yelled, dressed as a pot leaf, I laughed. From there we went to Beverly Hills; we had a lot of money, Hardy and I were both in the lawyer profession.

As we were rolling through all we could see were fancy shops with glass display windows.

"Babe," Hardy stopped walking at the site of the stores. "Please don't make me go through all of these shops." I chuckled as he stuck out a pouty lip and crossed his arms.

"Just two." He seemed fine with it because he quickly hopped out of the car and offered me his hand, I blushed before taking his hand in mine. We walked silently across the street, my eyes wandered over the many people on the street. My eyes fell on a woman with bouncy, blonde curls with a young daughter who resembled her to the bone on her hip. She was looking in the window of one of the small stores.

"Mommy, how pretty am I?" I smiled at the young girls question, it was too sweet.

"You're the prettiest girl ever, Mar."

That voice. I knew that voice better than anyone else could. I turned to Hardy who gave me a look of confusion. My eyes built up with fury, I had never been so angry before. I took my hand from Hardy's, clenching them into fist, and stomped over to her. My brown hair blew in my face at the hint of California wind. I could feel Hardy trailing not far behind me. I kept my hands clenched at my sides just incase my maroon, floral-print skirt rose up. I was right behind her, she could feel my breath on her neck, she whipped around, her nostrils flaring.

"Alison." I said dryly.

"Spencer." She eyed me, she couldn't escape now and she sure as hell couldn't do anything. I gave the young girl in her arms a sweet smile and she balled her hands up and let them go in a toddler sort of wave, beaming at me. "This is Marley, my daughter." I gulped.

"This is Hardy, my boyfriend." Hardy emerged from behind me, and all of the fake tan drained from Alison's face, causing her to set her daughter down, she held onto her leg for dear life.

"We know each other." Hardy crossed his arms over his chest at her comment.

"Nice to see you too, Alison, why don't we catch up? Late lunch?" Alison picked up her daughter in a hurry, nodding. Her demeanor soon changed.

"Sounds good," She smiled at us. "I hope you two know what you're doing." I rolled my eyes at her arrogance.

We ended up having a nice lunch at the Elephant Bar. The food was crap, but it looked nice which sort of made up for it. I folded my hands over the table, as the waitress took our orders. Alison had gained a little bit of weight, which was completely normal for someone who had a daughter.

"Great, I'll be back with your orders." She said cheerily, Alison smiled politely and turned back to Hardy and me.

"So," She started, Marley was engrossed in her coloring, I'm sure if I blurted out something wildly inappropriate the only looks I would get would be a questionable glance from Hardy and a horrified glare from Alison, "I suppose Aria told you?" We nodded.

"Why would you lie to him, Alison? That's not how life works." Alison chuckled.

"It doesn't matter, Spencer. Ezra is perfectly happy with his life. He doesn't need 'You-Know-Who' in his life anymore, in fact, her dropping in only confuses him more!" I looked at her in disgust. "Besides Spencer, when I came back none of you befriended me. In fact, as far as I can recall, you were glad that Ezra was gone. You said it yourself, Spence. He ruined Montgomery, worse than anyone could ever predict."

"It doesn't matter," I slammed my hands against the table in frustration. "Aria deserves to know why he did everything that he did. What was really going on! No matter what you say, Hardy and I were his friends too. You're lying about his life, Alison. Do you think that if he knew what you did to him he'd still be in love with you? Are you that delusional?!" Marley's head perked up.

"What?" She was so innocent, oblivious to her mothers lies. Unfortunately, I knew her innocence would be replaced by something evil and wretched. Something not a soul could describe. Alison smiled soothingly at the girl.

"Nothing baby girl, keep drawing." She turned her head towards me. "It doesn't matter anymore, Spencer. None of it." I scoffed. Hardy broke from the silence.

"Don't forget that I am one vital piece to the puzzle, Ali. I know the game. He has a book published, about your game. He's a grown man who doesn't need you. The only thing that ties him to you is a book and your daughter. You cut me out after the crash. You knew I would tell him about Aria!" Hardy face turned red. He got a crazy look in his eyes that was - I won't lie - extremely hot. Alison leaned in close to us.

"Who do you think he'll believe? A duo who he doesn't even know, or his wife? So help me, I will get a restraining order. I'll do what it takes to keep my family safe, because it's just that, _MY_ family. You won't talk or communicate with my husband or you will pay. And if you do happen to have a run in, you won't mention the truth about Aria or anything else related to that subject. If you cross me..." She chuckled, evilly. "We'll have to take this to the courts."

With that she picked up her daughter and strode out of the restaurant, only leaving behind a dirty threat on the table.

 _ **Ezra**_

I stared at the wall with a blank expression. The spark when she shook my hand...I have never felt that feeling with anyone, not even Alison. Which brings me to the point to question Alison. The front door slammed and turned my head to see that it was exactly 4:45. Alison and Marley had gone out to have a mommy and Marley day, as she called it. I heard Marley run up the stairs and Alison drop what sounded like twenty paper shopping bags. Her heels clicked against the linoleum until I heard the double kitchen doors swing open, I could feel her smiling at me as she saw me on the living room couch.

"Babe?" I tensed at the nickname, her voice was sweet enough to be honey, I still stared at the wall, suddenly fixated at the simplicity of a wall.

"Ezra." She said more stern. "Look at me, please." I stood up and gestured for her to sit on the couch. She looked as if she had seen a ghost. Her brown boots clacked as she sat across from me, she looked me in the eye.

"What's wrong?" Her clear hesitation didn't go unnoticed. I dug into my pocket, feeling the creases of the photo. I pulled it out and tossed it onto the table.

"What the hell is this, Alison?" I watched her face contort into several different emotions before speaking up.

"Who is it?" I pressed on; Alison shook her head, staring down at the photo.

"Who gave this to you?" She stood up with the photo in hand, fury burning in her eyes.

"Why? Does it matter if someone gave it to me?" She scoffed, shaking her head.

"Yes! It does! Now tell me, Ezra!"

"I found it! Now you tell me who that woman is!" I asked calmly. I just wanted truthful answers.

"I don't know!" She cried, running a hand through her hair. "Why are you asking me? It doesn't matter!" Anger boiled in my blood, I couldn't keep this civil. Without even considering Marley, I screamed right back.

"Because it does matter, Ali! This is obviously something from my past! Before the crash, before I lost my memory! You can't hide it from me, forever!" She crossed her arms over her chest as if she was saying, 'oh really?'

"So now I'm hiding things from you? I'm being honest, Ezra! I don't know!" I laughed sarcastically and ripped the photo out of her hand, grabbing my jacket off of the banister, as I made my way to the door.

"Ezra! We aren't finished! Please! Let's talk about this!" She yelled following me on my way to the door. I slipped on my coat.

"I won't be home for dinner. Give Marley a kiss for me." I muttered under my breath before slamming the door behind me. I stayed for an extra moment, listening to the other end of the door.

"Is daddy okay?" Marley asked tentatively.

It broke my heart, because the fact of the matter was...her daddy _wasn't_ okay.

 _ **Hardy**_

"Get me another beer." Spencer had been drinking ever since Alison gave us a potential restraining order. I got up, obeying my girlfriends orders. The entrance bell rang and I turned to see who it was, for no particular reason. The man that walked through the door hit me like a big yellow school bus. The curly dark hair, the signature book in-hand...

Ezra.

He looked up, confused at first, but then smiled. He walked towards me and we gave each other the signature guy handshake.

"Hardy! It's been forever, man. Where've you been?" Ezra asked, narrowing his eyes at me questioningly.

"I sent you tons of emails, bro. Are you playing the 'never came in my inbox.' card?" We both laughed, and he shook his head.

"No, I can assure you that I never got any of your emails." It was quiet for a minute until Spencer came wobbling behind us.

"Hi, I'm Spencer Hastings," she smiled at him and they shook hands. It amazes me how sober she could look when she was drunk. He stared at her a bit longer than normal, cocking his head an inch to the side.

"You look extremely familiar.." he trailed off and she shrugged at the comment.

"I guess I just have one of those faces," she smiled at him and he nodded.

"So, what brings you to California?" He asked as he ordered a plain scotch. Spencer and I glanced at each other quickly before she responded.

"A friend of ours dragged us over here." She spoke simply, without a hint of apprehension.

"Oh really? That's great! What friend?"

"Aria." Ezra turned and looked questioningly at us.

"Aria Montgomery? I actually need to talk to her, we kind of had lunch today, and she was acting funny, I just wanna talk to her face to face so I know I didn't do anything." I gave Spencer a skeptical look.

"Of course! We were just on our way out."

"I'll follow you to your hotel."

The only simple way to say it was..Oh crap..

We pulled up to the hotel at the same time. The sun was setting, it was 5:09.

"We're in room 306." Spencer smiled. "We'll walk up with you, but we'll stay outside until you're finished." He nodded firmly.

We walked up the gravely steps, reaching the door.

"I'll be back.." He gave us a small wave and shut the door quietly, leaving Spencer to press her ear against the door.

 _ **Aria**_

"Spence? Where is my-" My breath stopped. "What are you doing here?" I gasped.

Ezra stood in front of the door with his hands up.

"I saw Hardy at a bar a few blocks away...you kind of ditched me at lunch, I just wanted to make sure you were okay.I nodded, I looked like a mess. My hair was atop my head in a messy bun, and just as I was about to put on my green face mask, Ezra Fitz comes chasing after me just to 'ask if I was okay.'

"Oh.." The awkwardness in the room wasn't even amicable.

"I also wanted to tell you that Alison blew up when I asked her who was in that picture.." He stepped closer to me, I didn't know what his intentions were, but I gulped at his sweet smell as it swam around my nose. "And I know you know who that girl is.."

"I-I- can't tell you." He stared right at me, like he could see my soul. His lips were inches away from mine.

"Why?" His breath was hot, and I could almost hear his heart beating.

"Why were you crying, Aria?" I couldn't look him in the eye anymore, I focused on his blue, plaid button up. I bit my tongue and diverted my attention to his lips, it was the only excuse I had to get him to stop asking questions. I pressed my lips to his, in a frenzy. I needed something, something to hold me back from telling him the truth, I swear I thought the moment I kissed him he would redeem himself and back away, but for some reason, he didn't. He kissed me back, and it was something different. It didn't feel fake, or rushed, it felt real. He was loyal to Alison, and his daughter at home.

 _His daughter._

I backed away, quickly. I couldn't betray that little girl, I could care less about Alison. I put my hand on my forehead.

"I am so sorry. Oh my god, I'm sorry." I gasped, his eyes widened in realization of what just happened.

"No-Aria-" I closed my eyes.

"You shouldn't be here." I whispered the words. He nodded, but he didn't move.

"Aria, please...I just need some honesty. No one will tell me anything anymore!" he looked at me hopelessly. I couldn't say anything. I couldn't. Not after what Alison told me.

"Ezra, I can't... _please_ , just go," I spoke the words quietly, my voice cracking.

"I thought you might be the one person who could tell me something...anything...I guess I was wrong," his tone turned harsh and he left, I jumped when he slammed the door and bit my clenched fist to keep from crying.

What just happened?


	6. Chapter 6

Forget Me Not

Chapter Six

 _"Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind." -_ _ **William Shakespeare**_

 _ **Ezra**_

"I thought you might be the one person who could tell me something...anything...I guess I was wrong," I spat at the girl. I was so fed up with all the lies, the secrets, the hiding. I walked out of the room leaving her to deal with her problems by herself. I slammed the door and jumped when I saw that Hardy and Spencer were standing two inches in front of me.

"Oh! Sorry!" Spencer looked down and moved out of my way and Hardy smiled at me sheepishly, patting me on the back.

"Thanks for bringing me up here," I nodded and left them in the hallway, turning the corner sharply and entering the elevator.

I was sitting in my car, thinking about the entire day's events. Aria and I had lunch, I showed her the picture, she knew something, it upset her, she left. Alison knew something, probably everything, and wouldn't tell me anything. I hadn't seen Marley hardly at all. I thought about Marley and sighed, shaking my head.

 _My daughter wasn't even my daughter._

Which brought on a whole other round of questions and thoughts.

What else had Alison lied about? What was she hiding? Why was she so scared of me finding out?

I shook my head, back to the events: I see Hardy and his girlfriend, Spencer, at the bar. I didn't get any of Hardy's e-mails. Spencer seemed familiar but I couldn't place where from. I met with Aria in the hotel room.

And just a few moments ago, she kissed me. I don't know why. I don't know how it even happened, but I kissed her back. Everything seemed perfectly right in those few, precious seconds, too; like we were supposed to be together. Something that I had never felt with Alison.

I suddenly felt nauseous. I had never, not once, cheated on someone, let alone my wife. But she cheated too, and she was lying about too many things at once.

I drove home in a haze and opened the front door silently, taking my shoes off on the 'Welcome' mat. I was walking past the living room to get to the stairs when I felt someone in the room with me. I slowly looked around the room, I couldn't see anyone.

But just as I was about to start walking again, the black ottoman zipped around and I almost let out a yelp as I jumped at the figure in the chair.

"Shit, Alison! You scared the hell out of me!"

She wore her hair in a ponytail, with two strands of hair left out, framing her face. Her arms were folded across her chest; she wore her pink, silk robe and her face looked smug.

"I've been waiting for you, Ezra."

I roll my eyes and ignore her as she gets up and follows me upstairs.

"Ezra, please! Just listen to me!" she pleas as I go into the bathroom to brush my teeth. It was already midnight and it had been a long day.

"Ezra, I'm not going anywhere! You might as well just listen to me!" I opened the door when I was finished and she looked as though she were on the verge of tears.

"You lied to me, and you won't give me a straight, honest answer about anything!" I cried out, but it was a quiet cry so I wouldn't wake Marley.

"Ask me anything...I swear to you, I'll tell you the truth!" I look at her skeptically and clear my throat.

"Who was the girl in the picture, Alison?" I asked, she groaned and shook her head.

"I don't know, Ezra. You have to believe me!"

"Well I don't. Good night, Alison. I'll be on the couch tonight."

"Wait," she called quietly.

I turned around and she was looking me straight in the eye, tears welling up in her sparkly blue ones.

"What?" I spoke in a monotone.

"I-When you kept getting emails from old friends and people you didn't know anymore...I deleted them. All of them. I changed your e-mail and I didn't tell you because-because I didn't want you to be confused. You had just gotten home from the hospital and things were so crazy! I just-I just love you and I didn't want you to have to go through any more than you already had."

She sounded sincere. I couldn't resist, she was crying now. I embraced her and she cried into my shirt.

"I believe you," I murmured as I rested my chin on her hair.

"I do love you. Ezra, you and Marley. You're all I have. I-love you so much," she looked up at me and planted a single kiss on my lips.

"I love you, too," She smiled up at me.

"Ezra," She perked her head up on my chest. "We should invite Aria over for Thanksgiving. I mean, our dads aren't coming down so we only have to cook for us. We might as well have a few extra people." She smiled tightly,

"Okay, yeah I guess so." I took her hand and led her to bed.

Hopefully this was the beginning of the truth. The whole truth.

 _ **Aria**_

I cried myself to sleep that night. Silently though, I knew I was annoying Hardy and Spencer, but they didn't have to come. Of course, I was glad that they did, though.

At 4 in the morning I gave up trying to sleep and walked into the bathroom to take a shower. I felt gross from crying. I felt gross from kissing Ezra...he had a daughter, an adorable mix of Alison and Ezra was running around. I couldn't be that person who ruined someone else's family, Not after what my family went through with Meredith.

The hot water was relaxing and I forgot about everything for the quick twenty minutes I was in the shower. I got dressed and dried my hair; when I was done I saw that it was 5 and I had nothing to do.

I decided I would go down and get something to eat from the lobby. I walked downstairs and grabbed a burnt blueberry muffin and started to chew on it. The front doors opened to let her inside. She started walking to the elevator but then she spotted me.

Alison.

I set my muffin down and crossed my arms at her, she came over and say across from me at the cheap table I was at.

"Hello, Aria," She looked me up and down before speaking again. "Be honest, Did you give Ezra that picture of you two?"

"No, maybe you should hide evidence better." She rolled her eyes

"Good, and you better not tell him that it's you in that picture. You know what will happen." I stirred in my chair at the threaten. This girl was all talk and no action. What would she really do? She couldn't do much without Ezra suspecting something, could she? But I wouldn't risk it...not if it could potentially harm Ezra.

"Is that why you came all the way down here?" I questioned looking at her face, she wrinkled her nose and shook her head.

"No, no. I just wanted to inform you that Ezra will be inviting you to dinner tonight..I told him I would make it up for not knowing who was in that picture and for deleting his e-mails. So I want to warn you...don't try anything funny.."

"Why would I even come?"

"Because Ezra's inviting you...and you still love him. That's why you're not back in Rosewood yet."

"Whatever, Alison. But don't worry about your precious fantasy life, I won't ruin it for you...you'll end up ruining it yourself with all of you lies and secrets." I stood from the table and walked back to my room leaving Alison sitting in the hotel lobby.

 _ **Ezra**_

I was honestly surprised when Alison suggested inviting Aria over for dinner. Around 3:30 in the afternoon, Alison and Marley went out again to get some groceries for tonight. I was left alone in the house, flipping my cellphone over in my hands.

I hesitate over Aria's name but finally clicked it. When she answered, she didn't sound very happy.

"Aria! Hey, I um, I just wanted to see if you would like to come over for dinner with Alison and Marley and me..you should bring Hardy and his girlfriend-"

"Spencer," she corrected me automatically.

"Right, Spencer...well bring them too! I'd love for you all to come...and I really think that we need to talk...tonight."

There was an awkward silence for a few moments before I cleared my throat and she spoke.

"Yeah, sure...what time do you want us over?" My heart leapt for joy but I didn't understand why...I was married to Alison and I did love her very much...I didn't even know Aria.

"Six o'clock. I'm looking forward to seeing you," I added, I could hear her breath stop in her mouth before she responded.

"Yeah... Uh.. See you later, bye," she hung up swiftly and I set my phone down. Hopefully this was a good idea.

 _ **Aria**_

I bit my lip as I quickly threw my phone away from me as if it was shocking me. Why didn't I just tell him no? Alison's words swam around my head.

 _...And you still love him. That's why you're not back in Rosewood yet._

I let out a groan of frustration and Spencer looked up from the magazine she was reading. Hardy was laying next to her on the bed, playing with a strand of her hair. The sight pained my heart as it brought back memories of how Ezra and I used to be.

 _"Ezra!" She giggled. Ezra was behind her playing with her hair._

"What?" He asked innocently. She turned around quickly to face him.

"Don't." She smiled sweetly and leaned in for a kiss, it soon became heated.

"Round two?" Ezra nodded as quick as possible, Rolling on top of me.

I shivered at the memory,

"What was that all about?" Hardy asked casually, not looking away from Spencer.

"Ezra called. He wants us to freaking have dinner with him and his..family." I scoffed and looked down at my feet. I felt them both look up at me and I looked back.

"What? Why the hell would he want that?" Spencer asked, jumping up from the bed to sit next to me on the floor.

"I don't know..." I lied, looking at my phone which had just vibrated. I picked it up and looked at the 'One New Message' notification.

 _Hey, I know I said 6:30, but maybe you could come a few minutes earlier while Alison is cooking so we could talk._

 _\- Ezra_

I locked my screen quickly, feeling Spencer reading over my shoulder.

"What does he want to talk about?" Spencer smirked and I just shook my head.

"It's nothing, Spencer. I'm not going early. I refuse." I declared standing from my spot and walking towards the bathroom. "I'm going to get ready though...and you both have to come."

Spencer and Hardy made a face and whined about it at first, but they eventually agreed to come with me.

The time came too quickly to leave for Ezra's. I was nervous and I did not want to go. I knocked on the door hesitantly and it opened almost immediately.

"Aria! Hey, I'm glad you could make it!" He gave me a short hug and it was almost like old times.

"Yeah, me too." I smiled but he caught my unenthusiastic attitude. He frowned but quickly looked back at Hardy and Spencer and smiled.

"Hey guys! Come on in!" Ezra closed the door behind all of us and took our jackets, hanging them in the front closet by the door.

"Alison is just around the corner in the kitchen." Ezra stated, pointing in the direction. I started behind Spencer and Hardy, but Ezra grabbed my wrist and held me back. His touch was electric, I jerked away and blushed, looking down.

"Please, Aria. Don't be difficult. Just come with me for a short minute! We need to talk." I obeyed, following him upstairs as soon as Spencer and Hardy were out of sight.

He led me to a room painted pink with beautiful purple flower decorations everywhere. The room was spotless, the toys were picked up. It was Marley's room-his daughter's room.

"Ezra...I don't think we should be in here," I whispered, he chuckled at me and ignored my comment.

"We need to talk about that kiss..."

"Okay...so talk."

"You felt it too? Whatever it was? When we kissed?" I shook my head, shrugging.

"I don't know what you're talking about." It almost hurt lying about my feelings for him. I looked him in the eye. I saw a trace of.. _hurt?_

"Okay.. Alison can't know. I need you to act completely normal." I nodded, agreeing completely, if Alison ever found out, I knew I would have hell to pay.

"Anything else?"

"Yes...I want you-"

"Daddy?" Marley's small voice came from the corner of the room. I hadn't seen her and neither had Ezra.

Ezra's face drained of color and my heart increased in speed.

"Hey baby girl. This is Aria, you know Aria. Can you say hi?" Ezra asked trying to distract the two-year-old; but she wasn't, she shook her head furiously and backed away from her father.

"Why did you kiss her and not Mommy?" Marley looked confused, but she also looked like she was ready to cry.

"No, no, no, love, Daddy never kissed Aria. Grown-ups just say things that don't mean sometimes."

She nodded slowly and a smile spread across her face. She ran to Ezra and he picked her up

"Hello, Miss Aria," she looked at me and I forced a smile back at her. Ezra then sat her down and told her to go help Alison in the kitchen; she ran off leaving Ezra and me in the bedroom.

"You're lucky she's only an innocent baby," I said as he nodded in agreement.

We made our way down to the kitchen shortly after and it couldn't have been more awkward.

"Where were you two?" Hardy gave us a smug look and Spencer smirked.

"Ezra was showing me Marley's baby pictures." They nodded, seeing right through my lie. Alison emerged from the kitchen, her outfit completely blowing mine out of the water. She wore a tight yellow and black splatter print dress with her hair curled in perfect ringlets, it completely topped my bright purple strapped wedges and plain tight black dress. My hair was curled normally.

"Dinners ready." She smiled and gave Ezra a sweet kiss. My heart pounded, she was dangling him in front of me on purpose.

 _If only she knew.._


	7. Chapter 7

**Forget Me Not**

 **Chapter Seven**

 **"** _She would grab whatever_

 _she could, a look- a whisper,_

 _a moan- to salvage from_

 _perishing, to preserve._

 _But time is the most_

 _unforgiving of fires, and_

 _she couldn't, in the end,_

 _save it all._ _ **"**_

 **\- Khaled Hosseini**

 **Aria**

Marley had set the table while Alison set the food down. I wouldn't lie, it looked great, and probably tasted even better, but Alison being a housewife and cooking? I couldn't wrap my head around it, let alone my heart.

"It looks so good, mama!" Marley exclaimed. Alison smiled at everyone.

"Shall we go around and say what we're thankful for?" Marley raised her hand high in the air. "Mar, you start." Marley sat in silence tapping her chin.

"I'm thankful for my mommy and my daddy and for food and for Pricilla and-" Ezra was quick to cut her off.

"Okay, baby girl. Let mommy go." Marley nodded and turned her heard to Alison.

"I'm thankful," She turned her head from Marley to me, looking me straight in the eye. "for Ezra and him being the best father anyone could ever hope for, I'm thankful for Marley being the sweetest girl in the world," She paused, pinching her daughters cheek. "And lastly, I'm thankful to see my dear friends, Aria and Spencer, again." I could see her holding Ezra's hand under the table. Bile rose in my throat but I made sure my disgust wasn't obviously plastered on my face like it was on the inside.

"I'm thankful for spending another year healthy, and having a wonderful family." He gave Alison a kiss on the cheek, making my heart pound against my rib cage. I was in literal pain and we were barely an hour into dinner.

"Miss Aria, it's your turn!" Marley smiled cheekily. I swallowed, not because I was nervous, but because there wasn't really anything I was thankful for. Sure, there was Riley, but he was more of a curse than a blessing. I wracked my brain for something - anything. Without even thinking I blurted out.

"I'm thankful for Happiness."

A cold sweat came over me. Did Ali know the meaning of Happiness? Did she know what B-26 was? Much to her unknown dismay she nodded and continued until we made our way back to her. She threw her hands into the air as if to say 'Dig In!' Moments later I had almost an entire plate full of mashed potatoes, turkey, and vegetables that were cooked with the meat. It was quiet at first, the room only filled with moans of delight. I took an opportunity to start a conversation with Alison.

"So, Ali, did you use Jessica's recipe for this meal?" Alison stared at her plate and gulped. Jessica was always a sore subject with Alison, she had been killed by the infamous 'A' back in high school, Alison moved back with her father soon after the funeral.

"Actually, yes. Yes, I did." She smiled proudly. I smiled back politely, this dinner was filled with fake, picture-perfect smiles and lies...just like old times...

"What are you interested in, Marley?" Spencer sat next to me. She wore pale lipstick with a beige summer dress that had short sleeves; it was the only dress she had brought with her. With it she wore white, peep-toed heels.

"I really like dolls!" She bit her lip and played with her carrots. Spencer laughed.

"I like dolls, too!" When Spencer was in sixth grade, she had a major obsession with glass, China dolls.

"Mommy! Can I show Miss Spencer my dolls?" Marley showed clear excitement.

"After dinner. Eat your veggies." Marley nodded and didn't come back up for air. She gobbled up everything on her plate, and by the time she'd done so, everyone was stuffed.

"You guys should take some food back to the hotel," Alison laughed. "Maybe it'll get you away from those burnt blueberry muffins." She chuckled like a robot. Ezra narrowed his eyes at her, confused. I sat silent, smiling and nodding. It almost felt like a routine.

Alison was cleaning up after dinner, Ezra and Hardy were out getting wine and grape juice for dessert. Spencer and I sat with Marley in the living room, watching her draw and talking to her. She truly was something sweet and innocent and it was a shame that her mother would take that away from her - and even more sad that her mother was Alison. I had gathered that Marley was almost exactly four years of age, Her full name was Marley Grace Fitz. It rolled off her tongue when she said it too, almost with a hint of sass.

"Here!" Hardy and Ezra emerged from the door, Spencer popped up and have Hardy a kiss on the lips, and I gave Ezra an awkward smile before I heard his footsteps in the kitchen and a muffled 'Hey babe'. I turned back to Marley.

"Miss Aria, can you go tell mommy to get me the green crayon?"

"Sure," I couldn't just tell her no...my heels clicked against the linoleum, I heard muffled moans coming from behind the kitchen doors, without talking a step back and knocking, I barged in to see Alison on the counter and Ezra in front of her, her lipstick was a mess and Ezra's hair was slightly out of place. I apologized quickly.

"I-I am so sorry, Marley wanted a new, green crayon." I held up the broken green crayon and Ezra smiled sadly at me, taking it out of my hands, Alison smirked behind him. She knew what she was doing, and exactly how much it was hurting me. I was fighting tears as best as I could, thankfully, none escaped and I maintained a controlled expression.

"It's fine," Ezra murmured under his breath. I walked into the living room, grabbing my purse. Spencer and Hardy eyed me, looking worried as usual.

"Thank you so much for dinner, Alison. It was fantastic." She nodded as if to say, 'Thank you for finally getting out of my house' and handed me three plates of food. I mumbled a thanks to her after I had said my goodbyes and Spencer and Hardy bid farewell. It was nothing but questions when we were out in the cold California air, nipping at our exposed toes.

"What the hell happened, Aria?" I ran a frustrated hand through my hair - a habit I picked up from Ezra - and sniffed. I couldn't come undone again. With all of my crying, I had begun to annoy myself, and I knew I was long past annoyed with Spencer and Hardy.

"Aria, you can tell us..." Hardy placed a gentle hand on my shoulder, trying to get me to spit it out. It was almost as if the words were stuck in my throat.

"They were in the kitchen..making out. He had her on the counter-" The water works had begun and a wave of pain hit me in a new way. I tried to grasp the last good memory Ezra and I had but my mind was drawing a blank. The file of Ezra had been gone through too many times in my head. "It was us - it was our thing, and, and..." Spencer hugged me from my side as I wailed. I faced away from the house; I couldn't even look at it anymore. My car was across the street, just as it had been three days before when I came to realize this disgusting truth, when the only disgusting thing about it was that Alison was involved with my soul mate.

"What do you wanna do?" Spencer and Hardy asked in unison. I shrugged their hands off of me. I didn't want to be touched.

"We're leaving." I said simply.

"Okay. Get in th-" I cut Hardy off.

"We're going back to Rosewood."

"Aria you don't-"

"We're going back to Rosewood!" I snapped. "First thing tomorrow." I walked around the car and sat down in the back seat with a blank expression. I heard two doors slam, but out of the corner of my eye I saw a smirking, blonde sitting in the window with her hair curled into perfect rings...I closed my eyes and let the tears silently make their way down my face. If it was even possible, I was even more broken than I had been when I first went to LA.

 **Two Weeks Later**

 **Ezra**

Aria had been avoiding me for two weeks since Thanksgiving, I had stopped by the hotel and had gotten no answer from the door. When she did respond to my text, it was a short and sarcastic reply. She had been cold since she saw Alison and me in the kitchen. She looked so offended by our intimate moment.

Ever since we shared that one kiss, nothing with Alison felt right, almost like everything was too perfect. My mind had been wandering about Alison lately, though. Hardy had brought something up when we were at the store that really got me thinking.

 _"Marley's really cute, Ezra." Hardy commented as they strolled through the wine section. Ezra ran a hand through his hair, smiling halfheartedly at his friend._

 _"Yeah, man. She's a sweetheart. The other day, she wanted to have a funeral for her goldfish. A casket and everything!" Hardy tried to ease off the subject._

 _"That's cute. I noticed something though.." Ezra gulped, figuring he knew what he was about to say._

 _"Marley really looks nothing like you." He scratched the back of his head, looking hesitantly at Ezra._

 _"You're not the first person to say that." Hardy nodded, unsure of where the conversation was going._

 _"Oh, Look! Barefoot Sweet Red wine; your favorite if I remember correctly..."_

I shivered at the thought of that night. No matter what, I was Marley's father, biological or not. Hardy's comments just made me wonder who's other 26 chromosomes she had. Alison never shared a penny for her thoughts.

"Babe?" Alison sung, her bare feet padded into the living room.

"Hey.." She narrowed her eyes at my tone.

"Everything..okay?" I looked at my hands, trying to prolong this moment as long as possible.

"You-you know that I love you and Marley, a lot." Her face hardened at my words as her lips pressed into a thin line.

"What is this about, Ezra? Was it Aria? Did you sleep with her?" Her voice was nasally and accusatory. I stood up furrowing my eyebrows.

"What? No! Why would you say that?" She crossed her arms.

"Who was it?" She pressed.

"I didn't sleep with anyone, Alison! I was going to ask you who Marley's real dad is!" Her facial expression softened and she dropped her arms from the defensive position.

"Oh," I scoffed at her lack of response and ran a frustrated hand through my hair. My eyes were blood shot due to my stress level. I headed towards the stairs.

"Ezra!" I ignored her and kept walking. "Mar is sleeping, can we keep this down here?" I kept ignoring her, grabbing my pillow and a blanket from upstairs.

"What are you doing?" she whispered, but I wouldn't let her make me feel bad for her anymore.

"Sleeping on the couch," She shook her head and rubbed her forehead, she looked like she was going to cry.

"I'm sorry for assuming, Ezra! But-" I waved my hand.

"But nothing, Alison! I can't believe you think so little of me! I'll see you in the morning." I threw my pillow and blanket on the black leather couch downstairs. As I laid on the couch I heard her cry for a moment then there was only silence.

 **The Next Morning**

I woke up to the smell of eggs and leaks...my favorite. I saw Alison by the stove, nursing the pan. She perked up when she saw me.

"Hey, baby. I was just making breakfast. You hungry?" She was buttering me up, and I usually couldn't tell but everything was more apparent now. I nodded my head and headed upstairs.

"Where're you going? I was hoping we could talk..?" I shook my head, waving her off.

"I have to make a call." She made the same face she did last night.

"Okay." You could feel the tension in the room before I went upstairs. I dialed Aria's number that I now knew by heart. I didn't have to worry about Marley at the time; she had school for one more week then she was off for winter break. The phone buzzed in my ear before I heard a mans voice muffled in the background and giggling.

"Hello?" Her voice rung, it was so good to hear it again.

"Aria." I could hear her clear her throat and tell whoever she was with, she'd be right back.

"What do you want?" Her tone was harsh, she sounded angry.

"I just wanted to see if you wanted to have lunch again, you know? We haven't talked for two weeks." She scoffed.

"You have a child, and a wife. You're happily married with a perfect family and I don't want to come in the way of anything."

"We can't have lunch because I have a daughter and I'm married?" She scoffed.

"You're happily married, Ezra. I'm not coming between that. Please don't talk to me or call me again. Have a nice life." I didn't hang up immediately, nor did she, but she must have thought I did, because I could hear her clear sobs through the receiver and they confirmed everything.

Somehow, I didn't know how, but somehow, Aria and I knew each other and she was letting on a lot less than there was to the story. I didn't know what she was hiding, but I would find out. Eventually.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

 **Forget Me Not**

 _"Life goes on...whether you choose to move on and take a chance in the unknown. Or stay behind, locked in the past, thinking of what could've been."_

 _-_ _ **Anonymous**_

 **Ezra**

"Aria..?" Her sobbing stopped immediately as she realized I was still on the phone, then the line went dead. I sighed as I slowly set my phone down on the table. Why was everything so complicated all of a sudden?

"Ezra! Please come down and talk to me," I heard Alison's voice call from the kitchen. I had to go to see Aria...I needed to know what was bothering her so much. She knew something and I was going to find out exactly what it was. I didn't care that we had just met, I didn't care if Alison hated her, I felt bad and I didn't want to be the reason why she was so upset.

"We can talk later, Ali, I need to see Aria. I'll be back soon, I promise." I was still bitter about the previous night so I left without a hug or kiss goodbye and drove to the hotel that Aria was staying at.

I walked inside the musty hotel and went straight to the reception desk.

"Hi, my name's Ezra Fitz and my friend told me that you could just let me up. Uh, room 306. Her name's Aria, Aria Montgomery." I smiled friendly as the twenty-something year old clicked on his computer.

"Oh, huh? That's weird.."

"What?"

"It says that Aria Montgomery and two other guests checked out a little over two weeks ago."

My heart fell. She was gone? How did I not realize that she left two weeks ago?! Was I really that stupid?

"Oh. Well, um, thanks for your help." I turned on my heel and walked right back out of the hotel. The sun was hidden behind gray clouds - it was probably going to rain. I sat in my car and debated where to go next for a few moments, glancing at the clock. It was just 12, and Marley would be back from daycare. I ultimately decided to just head back home to Alison. There was nothing I could do to help her now. And clearly, she didn't want my help.

As I unlocked the front door I heard the light patter of Marley's feet running towards me.

"Daddy! Daddy!" She exclaimed, giggling as I lifted her into the air.

"Hey, Mar! How's Daddy's Princess?"

"Good, good, good!" She sang, pointing me over to her small table filled with crayons and coloring books.

"What are you coloring today?"

"I made you a picture, Daddy!" She handed me an outlined drawing of Tinker Bell filled with scribbles of all different colors.

"I love it, Bug. I'm gonna hang it up in my office, you keep coloring, okay?" She nodded and went back to coloring in deep concentration. I stared at her, fixated by her innocence. She was drawing carefully with her tongue sticking out just an inch, her eyebrows furrowed. The sight made me smile, but it made me sad. Marley wasn't mine and no matter how much of a father I was towards her, I'd never be related to her. I sighed once and proceeded to climb up the steps to my office.

Alison was sitting on my office couch, holding her knees to herself and crying. She looked up with puffy eyes when I walked in.

"Hey," she tried to smile, but it faltered. I set Marley's picture on my desk before carefully walking over to the couch and sitting next to her.

"Why are you crying?" I asked softly, she scooted closer to me. I tensed at first, but then I opened my arms for her to lean into me. I was too nice, I was too much of a pushover.

"I just-I just want to apologize, Ezra. I was so stupid last night and I keep saying stupid things..things that I don't mean! And-and I can't even begin to imagine my life without you. So, when you slept on the couch last night, it really scared me...we've never fought this much before, I don't want us to be like this." I shushed her at the end and pressed my lips lightly against hers. I didn't want to hurt her, I just wanted her to realize that keeping secrets from me wasn't the right way to handle situations.

"Hey, hey, I'm still here. I'm right here and our lives are very much intertwined. I'm not going to leave you, Ali. I just need you to be honest with me." She rested her head against my shoulder and sighed.

"I know...I promise to be completely honest with you from now on..I love you."

It was silence for a few heartbeats as we sat together, but she lifted her head to look at me.

"Do you remember Toby?" She was watching my expression as I tried to connect any dots to the name.

 _Toby_...it actually sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn't remember exactly who he was. I heard distant voice in my head muttering something about a tattoo and the name, other than that, my mind was drawing a blank.

"No...should I?"

"No, no...I guess not." She smiled and stood up, reaching for my hand. "We should probably get back downstairs, Marley's waiting," I nodded, taking her hand as she led me towards the stairs.

"I did tell you that you were an amazing father, right?"

 **Later that Night**

I was lying on the floor playing with Marley when the doorbell rang. It was almost seven at night and I hadn't expected any visitors, but a small part of me hoped it was Aria on the other side.

"Babe, the door!" I called, Alison was in the kitchen finishing the dishes from dinner when she came out and gave me a funny look.

"Did you invite anyone over?" She asked me, wiping her hands on her jeans.

"No...I thought maybe you had.."

"Oh...no, I didn't either." Alison cocked her head and walked to the door, opening it to a tall man with scraggly hair down to his shoulders. He looked like a dead beat and I stood up to stand next to my wife.

"Where is she? I'm ready to meet her."

"Excuse me?" I raised my eyebrows and defensively stood in front of Alison.

"The girl, I'm ready to meet her...my daughter.." My eyes widened as I realized who this man was. Marley's biological father.

"She's not your daughter..I think it'd be best if you leave now." He didn't even look at me, he walked past me and scanned the room until he saw Marley.

"Is that her?" He only spoke to Alison.

"Hey, man, you need to leave, now!" I raised my voice a small bit as he started making his way towards Marley.

"Toby, stop." Alison quietly scolded. He stopped and turned to her now, an evil glare in his eyes.

"Toby? This is who you were talking about?" My blood boiled in anger.

"Ezra, it's okay. He's harmless and he's going to leave..right now." Alison's face was drained and worry was etched on every square inch of her face.

"You're damn right he's leaving right now! Get out of our house!" I didn't scream, but I wasn't talking quietly either.

"Fine. But I have a right to meet my daughter. And one day, I will. _Soon._ " He stormed out of the house and slammed the door behind him.

"Ezra.."

I held up a hand. I didn't want anymore of her excuses. I was beyond done with all of her crap.

"You were going to tell me, Alison! Why didn't you just tell me when you asked me about Toby? You wanted me to find out this way? Really?" She shook her head, more tears threatening to spill down her face.

"No." She whined.

"So what then? Huh? You were only going to tell me the truth if I remembered exactly who you were talking about? That's not how it works, Alison! You can't pick and choose when you want to be honest! God, you're impossible!" I scoffed and shook my head in disbelief. She didn't say a word. I climbed the stairs and grabbed an old duffle bag; Alison stayed downstairs, which was probably for the best.

I packed a couple t-shirts, jeans, and pajamas and other necessities that I would need. I stormed downstairs and Alison was sitting next to Marley, Marley was confused and crying. She looked just like Alison. Nothing like me, and that broke my heart.

"Daddy! Where are you going?" Marley stayed next to her mother, but she looked up at me with her big, blue eyes. I had to look away. I heard her walk towards me slowly. I picked her up and wiped her tears, giving her a soft peck on the cheek. She didn't deserve this.

"Daddy has to leave for a little while, but he'll be back, okay?" She cocked her head.

"Don't leave me Daddy." She clenched her fists, and wrapped her arms around my neck in an attempt to keep me from leaving. "Dada.."

 _Yes, Marley Grace Fitz. I'm your daddy._

I peeled her off of me and set her on the floor.

"If you ever miss me, put your hand on your heart, close your eyes, and say daddy. I promise, it'll make you feel better.. I'll be back for you Bug." Marley followed the directions. She processed what I said and her eyes snapped open.

"What about mommy?" I looked briefly at Alison, who couldn't even see the exchange.

"I love you, Bug. I'll be back soon." I muttered, walking out the door with keys and bag in hand.

I didn't know where I was going, but somehow or another, I was going to find Aria.

 **Aria**

I stared out my window with a blank expression on my face. Today was the 18th day I had been in Rosewood. 18 days had passed since I last saw Ezra...and it was the last time I ever would see him. I was wearing sweatpants and an old Hollis shirt of Ezra's that I had never given him back. His smell was gone, though. Seven years was more than enough time for someone's smell to disappear forever.

 _"Ezra!" She shrieked as he grabbed her from behind, scaring her suddenly._

 _"I love you." He whispered in her ear, turning her around to kiss him._

 _"How much?"_

 _"More than you know." He kissed her harder, she smiled, but kissed back. He lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waste as he led her to the couch._

I closed my eyes hard, trying to shut out the memory. It didn't work. It only brought more to mind.

 _Aria laid sleeping against Ezra's chest on the bed. An old black and white movie was flickering on the TV screen. Ezra held her close to him, never wanting to let go. He kissed her cheek and her eyes fluttered._

 _"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep."_

 _"It's perfectly fine, love. Don't worry about it. Just go back to sleep." He murmured in her ear. She smiled at him and kissed him once before nuzzling into him and going back to sleep peacefully._

My eyes were dry and even if I wanted to cry I wouldn't be able to. Maybe I truly was broken. Mine cell phone chimed once, reminding me of old times, yet again.

 _"Who else knows about us?"_

 _"No one! I didn't tell anyone!"_

 _"Oh really? Cuz if 'A' knows I'm thinking 'B,' 'C,' and everyone else does too!"_

 _"I don't know who that is.."_

 _"I thought you were mature enough to handle this...apparently I was wrong."_

 _"No, Ezra-"_

 _"Just go...leave." He slammed the door in her face and she walked back to her cars confused and crying over what had just happened._

That happened all the way in 2010. An entire 11 years ago. It was so hard to believe that Jason and Noel were behind the entire plot. They were 'A.' But then thinking about 'A' reminded me of another memory..

 _It was the night of the ski lift incident and the girls were at my house. I was sitting on the couch as they surrounded me in kitchen chairs that they dragged into the room._

 _"Did you actually read any of his book?"_

 _"A few pages; bits and pieces...Ezra knew who I was before we met - he knew who all of us were...and...he knew Alison, too." Aria answered Spencer's question._

 _"So, he admitted to being in a relationship with her?" Emily questioned._

 _"Yeah..a brief one."_

 _"Then he must be Boardshorts!" Hanna exclaimed._

 _"Well Ezra didn't try to kill Alison. His whole book is, it's trying to piece together who did it!" She felt like she still had to stick up for him, whether she would admit it at that time or not, she still loved him, she would always love him._

 _"How is he gonna do that when the police can't even figure it out?" Spencer rolled her eyes._

 _"I don't know. He has a theory though."_

 _"And? What is it?"_

 _"He thinks that one of us did it."_

 _They scoffed and started arguing about how insane that was. It was annoying._

 _"Guys! Listen! Ezra is not 'A!' He's a writer, who found a great opportunity to make a name for himself. And he used me! He used us!" Aria snapped._

 _A heartbeat of silence passed as they looked down, they wouldn't even look at their friend._

 _"So..wait, what are we saying? That all of that stuff in that room in Ravenswood, that was just research for his book?" Spencer furrowed her eyebrows._

 _"He's been working on it for years.."_

 _"Well, we've seen the surveillance equipment..so we know he's been watching us." Hanna pointed out._

 _"He was probably just hoping we'd lead him to Alison so he could finally get his big ending." Aria muttered, the tears wouldn't stop falling._

 _"If he's been watching us, then he has to know about 'A!' I mean, how could he sit back all of this time and not do anything to help you?" Emily asked, her eyes painted with concern and betrayal._

 _"It's simple..." Emily looked up at her, waiting._

 _"He never really loved me."_

I snapped myself back to the present day, looking at my phone screen.

 _I know you don't want to talk to me, but I need to talk to you. Please tell me where I can meet up with you. -Ezra_

I shook my head in disbelief, almost smiling, _almost._

 _Snooker's Bar. Rosewood, PA. Meet me at 8 on Friday._

It was only Wednesday, so hopefully he could make it.

 _Thank you. I'll see you soon._

I set my phone down on the table thinking about what just happened.

And then the truth dawns on me.

Ezra Fitz is coming back to Rosewood, his home, _our_ home, where everything was packed full of their memories.

And none could miraculously recovered.


	9. Chapter 9

**Forget Me Not**

 **Chapter Nine**

 _"Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist,_

 _Erick Kandel, says we are who we_

 _are because of what we learn & _

_what we remember. Who am I then,_

 _If my memory is impaired?"_

- **Mira Bartok**

 **Ezra**

It was cold.

I don't remember ever being in the snow, maybe there was a time that I was, but not that I could remember indefinitely. I had been in Rosewood for almost 24 hours. It was Friday, but I came on Thursday. I couldn't stand being in a the house with Alison if it meant she would be pawing at me so I would collapse and give in to her like I usually did. She tried many other way to persuade me, but I assure you I didn't take the bate, nor was it appropriate enough to share.

I was on my way to see Aria at the bar she told me to meet her at. I couldn't lay my finger on it, but something about these streets had familiarity. Almost as if I had lived here for years. I turned on Hollis Way looking for Snooker's. My eyes scanned the perimeter until my gaze landed on the run down building. I parked my car on the other side of the street and made my way over to this unfamiliar place. It reeked of vomit and fried onions. Aria was sitting on a barstool, wearing grey jeans and a light pink t-shirt, topping it off with a bold black scarf and a thick black peacoat much like my own. She felt my eyes on her, causing her to look up. Her hazel eyes mixed with the darker lighting seemed to make them pop.

"Hey." Something was wrong. Her voice was shaky. Before I spoke up I peeled off my coat; the second she saw my shirt her face tightened. She turned back to the drink resting in her hands. I looked down at my navy blue thermal. Was I doing something wrong?

"Are you okay?" She avoided my eyes at all costs. It hurt a little bit not to see her face.

"Yeah." She turned back to me. She had a stray tear falling down her cheek.

What the hell? Why was I having these thoughts, getting these feelings for this girl? I'm married.

I had this desire, this need, this thing inside of me that I couldn't describe to make her happy. Something I did made her turn to mush, made her have a weak moment, I had already had my suspisions of Aria knowing something about me, but now it wasn't that she knew something, she knew me.

I had an all new feeling - a kind of determination. I wiped her cheek, feeling that same spark that was there from the brush of hands, to the kiss, leading up to now.

"Thanks," she muttered. I nodded, leading her to a booth so she couldn't avoid looking at me. She sat across from me, staring at her hands. "So what did you want to talk about?"

I played with my hands, to be honest I didn't need to talk about anything. I just needed to see her. She looked up from her hands, hesitantly looking me in the eye. Something. I saw it clearly.

I was sitting at the bar counter, the same one that was right in front of me. I walked over and looked over my own shoulder, trying to see what I saw so focused on.

Ulysses. The book that I could never finish. I smiled, remembering when Alison sat across from me before Marley was born and I would read to her on the couch. I diverted my attention back to a much younger me. I turned down to see a girl in a purple dress with boots staring at a missing poster of..Alison? I was beyond confused and I couldn't remember the face of this girl in a purple dress.

 _"Can I get a cheeseburger, please?" her voice immediately reminded me of someone, but I still couldn't put my finger on it. I saw the younger version of myself look up, take notice, and smile at the girl._

 _"You alright down there?"_

 _"Yeah just a bit jet-lagged, I just got back from Europe." I could sense her smirk from the tone of her voice._

 _"Where in Europe?"_

 _"Iceland." I watched the unknown girl and I converse, I mentioned something about Amsterdam and she nodded, we connected over writing. If I knew who she was, I would divorce Alison and fall for with her within the hour._

Was that a memory? I couldn't be sure.

"Ezra? Are you okay?" I nodded as Aria snapped me out of my daze. She looked a bit more at ease than before.

"Yeah, yeah..I just wanted to know if we were okay? I know we had a moment, but I-" She interjected with a tight smile, I could read her like a book.

"It's fine," she said stiffly. "Wer'e okay." I nodded again, almost as if it were a routine.

"So, who've you been spending time with?" I tried to make small talk, taking a sip of my Bourbon.

"My boyfriend." She muttered. I nodded again, I could swear it was a routine now. I did it everytime she spoke.

"Oh." It was awkward. Beyond awkward, actually. I was more confused than ever, too. Every time I was around this girl, something would happen. I would gain a memory but lose the details. I shivered, the cold from the outside opened along with the door. Two strangers came in holding hands and staring at each other lovingly. Aria stared a moment too long, because I saw a glimmer of longing, of desperate wanting in her eyes. She turned back to me, giving me another fake smile.

"Are you staying with someone or are you stuck in some crummy Rosewood hotel?" I chuckled, shaking my head. Something I hadn't done for a few days now.

"Rosewood Hotel. It's better than what we have in California. I stayed in one for a while..my shirt smelled like mothballs for a week." We laughed softly and Aria took a sip from her drink, uncomfortable from the easiness of our conversation.

"Can we act like the hotel thing never happened?" The one thing I was most afraid of her saying...she said.

"Yeah..I guess," I rubbed my neck.

Would it scare her?

"I know this is the last thing you want to hear because of your boyfriend," I spit the word resentfully, I knew it was unfair of me to say that becasue I was married and Aria was only with a guy that she could potentially marry, but I continued anyways. "But, you can't deny that something is here. I know you feel it, too. It can't just be me. I feel insane, and like a complete ass, but it can't just be me? Is it just me?" Aria sat quietly looking like she was on the verge of tears. She couldn't look at me.

"Ezra, You know that I like you..but-" I gathered my jacket from next to me stopping her mid-sentence.

"Say no more, Aria. I got it. When you said I needed to stay out of your life, you meant it. Plus, I'm married and completely in love with my wife, right? And I have a daughter so why would you feel the same? I'm insane."

"No-" she interjected.

"I should go." I picked up my jacket and left a 20 dollar bill on the table. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw an Aria with tears in her eyes.

I had a bad habit of doing that to her.

 **Aria**

I could feel Ezra staring at me as I cried. Half of me hoped he would turn around, kiss me and apologize, but that sounded more like something the old Ezra would have done. Just thinking about it broke my heart into another thousand pieces, but when he said he knew there was something between us, I felt somewhat happy, like the void I knew I had was begining to close, like I, myself, was getting closure without actually getting closure. He didn't think I felt the same about him, though. He stopped me before I could say anything. I looked up at the doorway where he stood a few moments ago. He had left, taking the only good smell in the bar with him.

"Can I get you anything?" The bar tender asked. He saw me crying, obviously assuming it was a fling becasue Ezra got a little loud when he spoke of his oh-so-amazing Alison.

"Ye-actually no. Thank you." I had a breif moment of geniusness. I grabbed my coat off of the seat and slid out of the bar, picking up the cash Ezra left on the table and replaced it with a 10. I slid the 20 in my pocket and bounced out of the door, the chill of winter hitting me in the face. I pulled my phone out of my black purse, scrolling through the contacts before hovering over Spencer's name.

I never intended to go against what Alison told me, but technically I wasn't. She said not to tell him about his past...she never said anything about showing him, or helping him remember.

I hesitated calling, I knew it could cost me ever seeing Ezra again, and I didn't even understand why I was doing it. My conscience was telling me I shouldn't, but everything else in me told me that I should do it. I suppressed a sigh before sliding my phone back into my purse. But I pulled it back out and wrote a message to Hardy instead.

All I had was hope in the word eventually.

 **Hardy**

Spencer walked in front of me, I watched her walking in awe, her black jeans and grey boots matched perfectly with her dark green Oregon Ducks sweatshirt. She stopped in her tracks as she pressed her nose up against the glass of a new boutique.

"Hardy..Pleeeease!" She turned to me and whined. She poked out her bottom lip in an attempt at a pupppy dog face that worked. I let out a guttural 'Ugh' and followed her inside. I eyed the clothes, they looked so complicated to put on, let alone take off, and that was all I was worried about. I sat in the corner of the store, watching Spencer look at other things that weren't me. I admired everything she did and everything she was. My phone buzzed in my jacket pocket.

 _Dinner tonight? I'm kind of tired of take out. How does Mexican sound? If you two aren't busy of course. I want to talk._

 _P.S. If you see Ezra, which I'm guaranteeing you will, offer him the apartment. Please. And don't let Spencer talk you out of it. I have an idea. -Aria_

"Spence?" Her head popped up from the price tag she was inspecting. Her frown turned into a smile and she walked over to me. "Aria wants to know if we're up for dinner?" Her smile faltered in confusion.

"Really?" I nodded, her eyes widened. "She hasn't talked to me since we got home from LA, and all she said was 'thanks for the adventure!' Tell her yes. Something obviously happened with Ezra. Only, I'm not in the mood for takeout." She pouted.

"Mexican?" She smiled and nodded.

"Let's get out of here. They want $175 dollars for a pair of Oxfords." We made our way out and continued with her shopping spree, Spencer had changed since high school, she used to not really be a shopaholic - but now it was a hobby. She and Hanna could buy out an entire store.

As we continued down the street I saw a curly headed man walking straight towards us, his head was bowed down, in what looked like..sadness? He could feel me watching him as he looked up.

"Hardy!" He smiled. Spencer frowned and crossed her arms, trying to protect Aria.

"Hey, Ezra! What are you doing in Rosewood? Family trip?" I gave him a hug and saw his smile tug into a frown.

"Uh, no," He scratched the back of his head and cleared his throat awkwardly. "I was meeting with someone up here. Alison and I..aren't really..what we used to be." Double meaning. He and Alison were fighting so he left to meet Aria. I felt like I had the mind of my dearest Spencer Hastings.

"Oh, well...do you have somewhere to stay?" Spencer looked up at me, shaking her head furiously. I ignored her and stared back at Ezra. He scrached the back of his head again.

"Just a hotel not far from here." I smiled. It was perfect.

"I have an empty apartment you could stay in until you decide to go home. Free of charge. It's just around the corner." I held up my eyes proudly.

Before Ezra moved, Aria gave me the keys to his apartment just because she couldn't stand to be in there and clean it all up. It was just as he had left it, I stayed there for a few night and put all of the blankets back on the bed. I didn't know what they could've done in there. Other than my few days there, I kept it in hopes someday he'd come back.

"Yeah, sure. Thanks Hardy." I waved my hand at him.

"Don't mention it. Come on." We walked a block or two down to the apartment complex stopping and having Ms. Rosenthal buzz us up. We walked up all of the stairs and made our way to 3B. I opened the door and motioned Spencer and Ezra in. He looked around in amazement. Spencer had her eyes narrowed at me from the moment I mentioned the apartment.

"Wow. It's just..wow."

"You're welcome." He set his keys on the counter but paused as he studied the material. I wasn't sure what was happening, but he just stared. I looked down at Spencer, her eyebrows now joined in the judgmental stare she was giving Ezra.

"You okay, man?" I asked.

"What? Oh, yeah! Perfectly fine. Thanks again. I'll see you again soon, right?" He dazzled us with his smile and we both nodded slowly as we made our way to the door.

I didn't know what just happened, but Ezra knew something. He _remembered_ something.

 **A/N:**

 **please roast these shitty writing skills its honestly so dumb wyd 8** **th** **grade skyler**


	10. Chapter 10

**Forget Me Not**

 **Chapter Ten**

 _"A goal without a plan is just a wish."_

 **-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry**

 **Aria**

I picked up the Mexican food on my way home from the bar, pushing away the sad feelings I got from Ezra leaving so suddenly. But I had a full-proof plan. This was going to work and Alison would never find out. Everyone would be happy, and maybe, just maybe, Ezra would come into the light.

I opened the door to the two-bedroom apartment Spencer, Hardy, and I shared. Riley didn't live with us, not yet, and hopefully not ever...I only wanted to be with one person in all honesty. My phone dinged just as I set down the food and I beamed at the message.

 _Ezra's at the apartment. We're on our way home._

I responded to Hardy's message with a simple 'ok' and set my phone down, putting the food in the warming drawer to keep hot. I then moved into my bedroom to change my clothes - they smelled strongly of the revolting scents from Snooker's.

As I was just finishing setting the table, the front door opened and in walked Hardy and Spencer.

"Hey guys! Just in time, too!" They looked at me foreignly, as if I was a stranger.

"Why-what put you in such a good mood?" Spencer asked carefully, smiling gently.

"I have the perfect plan. You guys are gonna love it! Really!" I took the food out and dished it onto everyone's plate.

"What is it?" Hardy spoke as he sat down, motioning Spencer to sit too. "This 'perfect plan' of yours?"

I finished serving the food and sat down to eat. I took a bite of the fried rice before jumping into the details.

"Okay, so we all know that Alison wants to keep Ezra in the dark. She threatened all of us about what she would do if we told him about the past."

"Go on," Spencer pursed her lips.

"Well, what if we just help him remember?"

"What do you mean, Aria? I'm not following..." Hardy looked at me, eyebrows furrowed.

"Yes! It's perfect! And you've already helped me! The apartment! He will see things, maybe they'll trigger memories! I know for a fact something weird happened at the bar today! He stared off into space with this look of adoration on his face - and I know he wasn't thinking of Alison because they're fighting right now. Guys...this could work!"

They just looked at me.

"Well say something!" I exclaimed, becoming irritated with them.

"I-yah, I guess it could work, possibly." Spencer shrugged, looking to Hardy for agreement.

"Yah. Definitely. We'll help you." I smiled at both of them.

So we ate and talked and for a moment, everything felt like old times. Just for a moment.

 **Alison**

"I'm so serious right now, Jason. I swear to God, if you don't find him..." I trailed off as I hissed into the phone to my older and dumber brother.

"Ali, cool it. I followed him here, it won't be long before I find him. Have you forgotten how small Rosewood is?"

"Just find him, okay?" I snapped, hanging up on him. It was already ten at night and it had been three days since Ezra left. It made me angry, but sad too. Sad for Marley, sad for myself.

Marley was sleeping soundly in her bed with Priscilla and I was lounging on the couch, flipping through the channels. I contacted Jason after Ezra left so he would follow him. Aria had to have met up with him already, but of course, she wouldn't think I was watching them this closely. Sure, Jason was a risky choice given that he was 'A' all along and the girls know that, but he was the only person I could get. I wasn't hiring a stranger because I don't like telling strangers secrets about me or my family.

I didn't think I was wrong for the choices I made. I didn't do anything wrong in the first place. Maybe staging the car accident, but that's all I did...

I heard the pitter-patter of feet upstairs and sighed.

"Marley, why are you awake, baby?" I called, letting her know that I knew she was awake.

"Mommy, I can't sleep. Where's Daddy? I want him to sing to me." I flinched when she said 'Daddy.'

"Daddy's not back yet? Do you want Mommy to sing to you?" I asked as she came downstairs slowly and sat next to me. I brushed through her curls with my fingers.

"I miss Daddy," she whispered. I didn't know what to do. What to say. A few heartbeats passed.

"I know...me too," I picked her up and started carrying her back upstairs. "You should do what Daddy told you to do if you miss him." She nodded and closed her eyes, placing both hands on her heart. Her eyes flew open.

"Can I sleep with you?" she asked in her small voice.

"Of course, darling." I assured her, carrying her to my bed, Priscilla in her hand.

"Should we pray for Daddy?"

"What?" I asked confused. We didn't pray. We never talked about it. I didn't understand how she knew what it was.

"Miss Deborah, from my preschool, she says, she says that if you pray, if you pray when something is sad, or bad, she says if you pray, someone will make good things happen and someone will fix the bad thing, or the, or the sad thing."

I was awestruck. My two year old daughter was lecturing me on prayer.

"We don't do that, baby. It doesn't work." I said gently, turning out the lamp.

"I think it will work." She said, she wasn't sassing me, she wasn't challenging me. She was simply stating her opinion - her innocence would never cease to amaze me. I wish I could've been like that.

 **Ezra**

I was getting out of the shower on Saturday morning. I was heading back to LA the next day. I couldn't run away anymore. I had to face Alison, and I had to be there for Marley. I couldn't abandon her...them.

As I was opening a drawer that I stuffed my clothes into, an abstract picture clouded my vision.

 _A younger version of myself laid next to a small girl with beautiful, chocolate hair. I watched the girl and me laugh and giggle at each other, tangled in sheets._

 _"Last night was perfect." She was obviously younger than me by a few years. I saw myself blush and pull her closer to me._

 _"You made it that way." I couldn't see her face, it wasn't blurry, but her hair was covering it. The girl glanced over at the clock._

 _"Mr. Fitz, you're going to make us late for school!" She got up, wrapping a sheet around her, giving the universal meaning that neither of us was wearing clothes. She was still facing the younger me in the bed._

 _"Miss Montgomery, are you accusing me, a teacher, would let a student be late to school?" Montgomery. The name clicked. Aria? She bent down and pecked me on the lips._

 _"Care to join me in the shower?" The two of them got up and practically ran to the bathroom. My eyes widened as I saw the face of the stranger. Aria. A very young, very nude Aria._

My head was pounding and my pulse was racing. I couldn't make sense of any of this. I needed to talk to someone. Someone who could tell me I was crazy. I was, wasn't I? I was obsessed. Obsessed with this girl whom I had just met almost two months ago.

It explained so much, why she cried when she saw me the first day with Alison. Did I rape her? Did I coax her into having sex with me then skip town to LA and got in the accident? Or had my mind made that memory up. I just wanted a simple answer and Aria made the most sense to me at the moment. It couldn't have been her, though...

I finished getting dressed before I grabbed my car keys and fled out of the apartment before more memories could come back and confuse me.

I typed Hardy's address into my GPS system and waited for it to give me my route. Hardy had given me his address before he showed me to the apartment.

I arrived and knocked on the door. I waited a good ten seconds before pounding on the door again.

None other than Aria answered.

"Ezra?"

"Oh, I, um...I'm sorry. I didn't know you lived here." I muttered, scratching the back of my neck. She didn't shrink away from my gaze this time.

"You can come in," she said, opening the door wider and allowing me access.

"Thanks."

Hardy walked over and Spencer soon followed, crossing her arms over her chest like she did the day before.

"Hey man! Why didn't you call? I could've met you somewhere!" Hardy smiled and patted my shoulder as I made my way to their couch.

"Look, Hardy...I need to talk to you about something." Hardy widened his eyes and nodded. He walked over and sat in an armchair across from me.

"Anything." I took a deep breath and closed my eyes just for second.

 **Aria**

Spencer quickly rushed over to me.

"We're going out. We're going shopping. We'll be back in an hour!" Spencer cried, almost sounding desperate.

"What?" I asked, pulling my eyebrows together, but she didn't care. I slipped my shoes on and had my coat halfway on when she pulled me out of the apartment and slammed the door.

"What the hell? What is your problem?" I exclaimed, rolling my eyes as I struggled to keep pace with her as she made her way down to her car.

"I'm sorry, but you do not want to be there for guy talk! If he remembered something...you being there is just going to make it awkward and more complicated. You can't forget that he's married, Aria!" I huffed out a breath and jumped into the passenger seat.

"You're probably right...but..I just, I want to be there...if he does remember me. That's all." She gave me a sympathetic look and backed out of the apartment parking lot.

 **Hardy**

I was nervous, I didn't know what he wanted to talk about and it didn't help that the girls left me here with no one but myself.

"Hardy...I think I'm going insane." Ezra spoke, shaking his head.

"What? Why?" He remembered.

"I, uh, something happened...just forty minutes ago. I was walking out of the shower when I remembered something...and I'm pretty sure it was before the accident. But it's completely confusing. It's like trying to put a puzzle together without knowing the picture. I get bits and pieces, but none of it makes sense. None of it goes together!" Ezra sighed and closed his eyes again, rubbing the back of his neck quickly a couple times.

"What did you remember?" His face went bright red.

"It was nothing, really. Just some old stuff between me and a girl..."

"Who was the girl?" I pressed on. Did he know about Aria? And how much did he know?

"That's the crazy part..it was Aria." He whispered her name as if she was still in the room. I didn't know what to do, how to respond. "Hardy, please - either tell me I'm insane or tell me the truth. I'm so sick of everyone keeping _my own_ past away from me."

I stared at him, shocked. I could do nothing but nod.

"Yeah. It was Aria." I finally got the words out. He relaxed somewhat, but then a whole knew characteristic emerged. Worry? Guilt?

"Did I...did I hurt her?"

"What do you mean?" he knew what I meant. Emotionally. I knew the whole story by heart from living with Aria and Spencer.

"Did I, you know...rape her? I was a teacher. _Her_ teacher." He breathed the words, scared. I almost laughed but I maintained my expression. "Is that why she's been so weird around me lately? Why she's been crying all the time?"

He had it all wrong. What could I say? How could I even begin to answer him? He didn't remember anything, just a few, minor memories.

Just as I opened my mouth to speak Aria burst through the front door. She gave us a weird look as we both had our breath caught and were staring at her with wide eyes.

"I just forgot my purse..." she explained slowly, picking her purse up. Ezra then stood up and took her hand, dragging her outside the apartment. What the hell was he doing now?

 **Ezra**

"Look, I know that you know me." I scrutinized her face as I spoke, she flinched away from me. My expression softened and I took a step away from her. She really was scared of me.

"What are y-" I put my hand up, stopping her.

"Yeah. You don't know what I'm talking about! Just...Aria...I _know_ that you know what I'm talking about! Please...just answer one question." I pleaded, she looked up at me slowly. More tears in her eyes. I wiped one away, she didn't flinch away from my touch, that was good, I supposed.

"What?"

"Did I hurt you? As in take advantage of you in any way? Is that why I was on my way to LA? Is that why you came to find me?"

"That's three."

"What?" I looked at her in confusion and her mouth turned up in a small smirk.

"That was three questions. You only said one." I chuckled nervously at her and ran a hand through my hair.

"Please answer, Aria."

"No."

"Why no-"

"No, you never took advantage of me." She interrupted me.

I sighed in relief and chucked again, it sounded more at ease now.

"Thank you." I breathed, I had taken a step back closer to her again. She stared at me, wide eyed. "So did we meet in that bar? Is that why you wanted to meet me there?"

"Ezra...I really can't talk about this. You only said one." She closed her eyes and I took that as a yes. She was different again, when she opened the door, she almost looked giddy. Now she was back to the scared, sad girl I met in LA.

"It was. We- we were in love, weren't we?" She held up a hand.

"Please. Ezra, just stop."

"Why?" I murmured, taking yet another step closer to the girl.

"Because."

"Why, Aria?" Our faces were only inches apart now. I could taste her breath in my mouth. She shook her head defiantly, keeping control of the situation, but I lost my care of control. I was done with Alison, I wanted to know my past with this one girl, _Aria._

"I'm not leaving until I know everything." I challenged, she didn't say anything, she just continued shaking her head. I took her chin in my hand and forced her - gently - to look up at me.

"Give me a reason to get in my car, and leave. Never coming back."

Her breath caught in her throat and I could almost feel her will slipping away. I slowly bent down to meet her lips with mine. It was just a small kiss, but it felt so right. It wasn't even something one could explain. She pulled away then, looking up at me with a hurt expression.

"You're still married, Ezra! You have a daughter. An amazing one!"

"I know, I know." I ran a hand through my hair again.

"I think that this should be our last goodbye." She bit her lip and looked down. Her saying these things hurt more than they should have. More than I would have ever imagined. It was like a blow to the stomach.

"If that's what you want.." I studied the girl, she looked up at me and didn't nod or shake her head. She was perplexed.

"It's not, but it's the right thing to do."

I nodded at the maturity of her statement. I kissed her once more on the forehead.

"Goodbye, Aria."

"Bye, Ezra."

 **Jason**

I sat in my car in Aria's apartment's parking lot. I saw everything. Ezra going there, Aria and Spencer coming out, Aria going back in only to be followed by Ezra and Aria coming outside and talking.

Then kissing.

I had always had feeling for Aria, despite what I did to her and the girls. I shook my head and dialed Alison's number.

"Did you find him?"

"Oh- I found him alright." I smirked.

"What do you mean?"

"He's right here, with Aria Montgomery."

"Does he know?"

"I don't know if he knows about anything, but he and Aria have something going."

"What is that supposed to mean, Jason?"

"It means they were just kissing."

There was a moment of angry, hurt silence. She didn't think this would've happened. She was wrong. Hadn't she learned that these two were inevitable?

"No. This means _war._ I'll call you when I need you." She hung up without a goodbye. I turned back to Aria across the street who had her arms crossed across her chest. I chuckled.

She was _broken._


	11. Chapter 11

p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="60a0d5f1d8d1462747a036d93ee774db"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Forget Me Not/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="60fb178b5528ed3b9ab2ce8c229bbb49"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Chapter Eleven/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="53e9c512e9063e3e18ef76857591873f"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"" As the years have passed,/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="55ea40f970b417ce495b2140ac3ca4c2"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"the time has grown longer./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c554ff955228901078fdc6b87e8c943e"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"The sad truth is that what/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2ab03bd84c6d4360db072b1da5fd02f4"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"I could recall in five seconds,/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1a7b3e1b9bba29d483ba45384d2caff0"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"all too needed ten, then thirty,/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="19aae2484facd63c71169ebce08fc8e2"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"then a full minutes - like shadows/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="61abd228369db9334df0a51c3771404d"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"lengthening at dusk. Someday,/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="050c93c3ad8784de94eefe8cadf71c48"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"I suppose, the shadows will be/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c31489dc48be85fd0c1d0792fddb92aa"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"swallowed up in darkness. "/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3fb114d602e989f85a8ddffa17fa41c7"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"- Haruki Murakami/em/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="dc53785d25a3e11fb45aa5dbc946e293"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Ezra/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="61b42f01e18b98c14ac2bc56230984e8"I had just crossed the line that connected Long Beach and Riverside. My head bopping absentmindedly to the generic pop culture blasting through my stereo. Time passed quickly and before I knew it, I was turning into the driveway of the house Alison and I resided. I slid off my shoes like I always had when I got home late. Alison was sitting at the kitchen counter with wine being swished around the glass while she watched Marley color. They obviously hadn't heard me come in. My eyes locked with Marley's and she gave me a huge smile. Alison looked confused as to why she was smiling at the hallway but she turned her head and her gaze was hot, like I had done something unforgivable. For a split second, I wondered if she knew about where I was for almost a week and everything that was going on with Aria. I was having a mind tug-of-war, too. I wasn't sure if I should confide in Alison and tell her what I remembered./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="917d6c9d7b46186f72a4755cd8b380c1""Daddy!" Marley jumed off of the stool and wrapped her tiny arms around me as tight as she could. "I did what you told me to do when I missed you, and everytime it wouldn't work." I picked her up and held her close to me. I didn't even respond, I just hugged her. I wasn't even aware of how much I missed her./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a87a1eb34018a3ca494d3ae1e060e24a""I love you, Bug. I love you a lot." Her blond hair fell over her face and I brushed it away. I gave her a sweet kiss on the head. "If you go up to your room, I'll tuck you in. I just need to talk to Mommy." Her eyes twinkled and she jumped away from me, running up the stairs./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="da3d6585c6a2e55af62f19acb0367a73""Where've you been, Ezra? You didn't bother to call, or text or even send a damn e-mail." She took a sip of her wine and looked me in the eye. I was speechless, she really had the audacity to say something like that to me? After everything she lied about and did? I didn't even know anything about my past because of her. Plus, Aria didn't even answer my question about hurting her./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b6bb32327d78082ba450669f41050d9a""You're really going to be the one to give me the speech about being a jerk? I get it, I should've called Marley..and I wanted to, but I wanted to avoid you as well. You didn't bother telling me about Marley's actual father, who made a random choice to show up one night! Marley may not have my eye color or my hair but she will always be my daughter. You can't take that away from me! You should've just told me instead of lying for so long." I rubbed my face in distress./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a946b910e0507a8a7154bb30ccba255f""I get it, okay? I get it. In my defense, I told you about Marley and you not being her biological father. I told you before I even gave birth to her! Wouldn't you hate me even more if I didn't tell you?" She sobbed. "I love you and I'm so tired of fighting. This is all my parents did growing up and it's all yours did. We love each other Ezra, and if we want what's best for Marley, we need to stop.." I didn't care if she was trying to manipulate me, she was right. I did love her and Marley, I was just blindsided by the first thing that connected me to my past in Rosewood. I wouldn't forget about it, but I had to tell Alison now while we were being honest with each other, maybe if I did, she would open up to me about what happened in Rosewood and things could maybe be the same...or at least go back to normal. I bit my lip, trying to concentrate on what was happening around me. Alison was just staring, waiting for me to say something. I sighed./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9ee6e12b62fa40570851a1f0a3e89927""Ali, let's be completely honest with each other. Right now, lets get everything off of our plates and be the family we used to be." I couldn't believe I was saying this, I knew I had to contradict everything she said, but I couldn't tell or show her that. I could trust her but not in an honest way. She twisted everything around...and I still fell in love with her. Letting her into my problems would be a way to fall back. I couldn't forget Aria again, ever. She wouldn't lie, but she took a long time to crack open. What she told me outside of her apartment felt like the tip off the iceberg. Alison nodded./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b0162cfcd0949be7da6ad84b0412e148""You first." I nodded, I saw the bottle of wine in the corner and grabbed a new glass and poured some for myself, I never really liked wine, but for a situation like this, I needed it./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="93b0e587c70430394d2fea7bfff6b361""I-I kissed Aria." Her face was nuetral but she had sort of a late reaction, almost as if she had already known. She looked down at our granite counter. "In Rosewood. It wasn't intentional we were just caught up in the moment. It was all my fault because I was mad at you and I needed a break and-" She held her hand up to silence me./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2f1c3116db5a91efccdb9a108cd8c731""Why were you in Rosewood?" I scratched the back of my neck, in an attempt to ease a bit more into the conversation./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2b6a042b92b264778ed701893429a554""Hardy needed me for someting and it was perfect timing because I was leaving anyway." She nodded. "Your turn." She wiped her cheek. Her eyes never left the counter./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="21ed8a9022f077b7068da4ea6dec161c""We both used to live in Rosewood," She started. I already knew this but I had never been more eager to listen to something Alison said, "You and I dated breifly. We had something though, something dangerous but perfect and sexy...everything we ever wanted," She trailed off. "Long story short, I introduced you to my friends, Emily, Hanna, Spencer...and Aria. She had the eyes for you and I knew it. So, you broke up with me and a week later Aria was bragging about your sex life. She had this fantasy of you being a teacher and her your student. She constatly talked about it. One day, you decided that she was crazy and you two broke up and we got back together and moved here.." She paused before starting to sob again. "I know who casued that accident, baby." Her voice was delicate, like she couldn't even be saying this out loud. She walked over and put her hand on my cheek, I held her arm./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1e1ff246bc610c6011922ac051bed671""Who?" I wanted to cry. Why was I believing this? Could this be true? No. Yes. It all added up. I played along to Aria's fantasy until it became too much, right? She had always seemed sane though../p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="bb4500120fffddd0fca815db223b5d13""Aria. I found out at Marley's first birthday party but decided not to tell you becasue you didn't remember her. Don't be mad, baby. Please. I was protecting you as best as I could." I nodded./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="47cee834f6a44a1755befd8bf27e19b6""I won't be mad as long as you forgive me for Aria." She nodded and gave me a sweet kiss. I kissed back, not letting her escape. Not again. If Alison was telling the truth, and I believed she was, then I wasn't going to let some naive girl come in and ruin everything. I kissed hungrily, I could feel her smiling./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d65e96cc4f24838540373c37c5c2117e""I love you. I love you. I love you." She said in between them all. I smiled as she unbuttoned my shirt, I held her hands close./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="4d3ff122f1d715087b334a385c1b88a2""We have a daughter waiting for her father to tuck her in. Do you really want her to find out about the human anatomy at the age of four?" She smiled goofily./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="aa3313b0e4bea5b0dd465dcca9c1adb4""I'll see you upstairs.." She sung and winked as she swayed up the steps. Nothing felt like it used to. Everything was eerily the same even though everything was different./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6fdbd68942bbf7f0d56e5eae20c75f44"My mind raced back to Aria, though. She wasn't naive at all. Just broken. And suddenly I realized why./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="8df86c0e7a8109492bebbe3f1795db04"Me./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6a75f2c96620f78e2b5a24f26c069a26"It was my fault. I was suddenly caught between the two people I loved most./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9c0f0b59a4cb6d6c59f6002bf3892a28"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Alison/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="4cc5eb684a1d3ad3467550ba929ba204"I didn't want to lie to Ezra, I really didn't. I couldn't stop myself from doing so though. I knew that the second Aria and Ezra connected again, all hell would break loose and my picture perfect life as a mother and wife would crumble into nothing. The only thing that tied Ezra and I together was Marely, but not really even her. He wasn't genetically bonded to her in any way. She didn't have my eyes like Ezra always said, they were Toby's. I knew I broke his heart when I lied about not knowing anything about her father. I couldn't help myself when it came to him. He needed to be mine, forever. The only way I could make sure of that was if Aria thinks he did something even more unforgivable than what he did to her. I was glad that he was putting a tad bit of trust in me, afterall I was the only thing he had after the crash. Technically, Marley and I are his only family. I was currently waiting for him to come into the bedroom but he was taking forever. I heard soft chuckling from Marely's bedroom. I quickly got off the bed and padded to the doorway of her room. My heart warmed./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2e325b27874e35d471342bd741c15a96""I can promise you that monsters don't exist, Bug. They're a figment of your imagination!" Marley smiled triumphantly./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="4b0bbfe1abf7f72ea2a2a4cf0653a30b""Thank you for saying that, Daddy." He gave her a kiss on the forehead and tucked her into her bed, setting Pricilla down in her arms. She gave him a half smile. Just as he was about to turn around, Marely stopped him./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="56d9b1fd30c8e96e6ccbbfaca293d3c6""Daddy, wait!" His smiled faded./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="eb9267db11b8d72528b9d5a6cd50b0a7""What baby girl?" She stuck out her bottom lip and played with her fingers, a habit she had picked up from Ezra after watching him write in his office for the past four years./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="8d950724634229cb094fb1071c33327d""Is Miss Aria taking you away from us?" My heart stopped beating. My blond hair fell over my face as I turned away from the doorway. I was intrigued, and Marley nor Ezra could see or hear me./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2b41c34568d726124583f5e2e2e42a5c""What do you mean, Bug?" She sighed./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="86673e02be11fadd799d62717717d624""Daddy, I'm not stupid. I know you were with Miss Aria when you left. You always look so happy around her. Happier than you look when you and mommy kiss and hold hands when we leave. I know, Daddy. You guys are always fighting. I know what I heard on Thanksgiving, Dada." I peeked between the door that was cracked and the doorway. Ezra kneeled down next to her so he was level with her and her bed./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ebb42cc2fcad95b4cad70db16b326e47""I love Mommy, a lot. Mommy hasn't been telling me the whole truth about some stuff, so I needed to go away for a little while. You know I would've taken you with me if I could. You're right, Bug. I was with Miss Aria, but I can promise you that I will tell you and Mommy if anything happens that causes me to think something could destroy us. I won't let it happen, baby girl." He kissed her forehead and rubbed her arm./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="282e075107922d359565173bd5226ee7""Goodnight Daddy. I love you." He nodded and flicked off the light. I padded quickly back to our bedroom and rubbed my forehead. Thanksgiving? What happened? I was too frazzled and worried about Jason and if he did what he was supposed to do to even think about it./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="cef3305a821e0e9e3b3e790d36ba8df4"It was then that it hit me how much I had to loose if Ezra actually found out what happened. Everything would fall at my feet, and I could go to prison for attemped murder. Could I? I didn't try to kill him.. It didn't matter, and I knew I shouldn't have been thinking that way but the only thing I could think of is Marley as a young girl, crying as I'm dragged off in an orange jumpsuit to cellblock H-9. I rubbed my eyes./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="26b2318c91260c0360fe4d6cbe086593"I can't loose them and I knew I wouldn't. All I had to do was keep Aria and Ezra far away from each other./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="63356cd69ffbb0d1ae0acf51886c5ada"Simple, right?/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a1a013e22a71caf894cbe74b0472bc35"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Aria/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="4ca5ddac78cbeab5af6010bd6f4f5371"I was carrying two coffee cups back to Riley's apartment when I unlocked the door. But before I turned the knob, I heard giggles and voices. One was Riley's, I was positive. The other sounded like a girl's voice. I barged inside the room to see Riley in bed with some college girl./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="395bcda90943846ba1689af6251c182a""Oh, hey Aria! You're actually here!" The girl snickered and I shot her a look. Her smile washed away and she stood, carrying the sheets with her to the bathroom./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c434e6427c63954be0611b889f513eaf""I'm gonna, umm, I'm just gonna go."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f99a1348f0f1c4f6674db647a4e2a554""No! Stay! You don't have to leave yet!" Riley begged, but she shook her head and closed the bathroom door, getting dressed I supposed./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0534c881cd9e8bdcfcde68646a7e8baf"I set the coffee cups down and waited until the girl was out of the apartment to start talking. He wasn't hearing any of it, though. He didn't care. He had already made up his mind./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="8521b3dfaf2b80710f51f942b66e7da7"Tears were swollen in my eyes as I sobbed like a child, I couldn't believe it./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="66f35fd847ef6ccff46b160ad8cb241d""Riley, listen to me!" He shook his head, his annoying blond boy band hair fell on his face./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0a61b0a71a68481c91ab10dc715ff0db""I'm so done with you, Aria Montgomery. You've ruined everything we had! We had everything and all you had to do was sleep with some other prick, Who am I to you?" I wiped my eyes. Riley had gotten a text from a random number that I slept with someone else, though I didn't, it was enough proof of Ezra and I kissing in the parking lot. It felt like A all over again. Anger rushed through my veins as he said all of these things. I liked Riley, we had the potential of love yesterday, but not anymore. I was realizing just how self-centered he is. I couldn't beleive this guy. Calling Ezra a prick. I scoffed./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="16c23c3975d7c9d932ec68c19ac85324""You know what? I don't know why I'm defending us if you don't beleive that it was nothing but an innocent kiss. He needed me and it got out of control. I didn't sleep with with him, Riley." I crossed my hands over my chest and rolled my eyes as his hands flew up in the air./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3dce702bebdef0a6ac1f92594c2e9db3""I thought we had a chance Aria." I wiped my cheek and waved goodbye sarcastically. My phone let out a loud beep when Riley slammed the apartment door. I furrowed my eyebrows when I realized I missed a call from Rosewood Hospital. I called the number back quickly./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6500a24421b5df0694c6c02cbd39bb89""Hello, Ms. Montgomery?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="45eea4292ddf9fa23169e3ddc8621fe5""Yes, that's me." He paused and I heard the rustling of papers. "Your brother, Mike, was in an accident. A serious one. He was left at the doors of the Emergency Room last night." I muttered something about being there soon. How was this happening? Things were fallog apart! Everything was in slow motion as I drove my car into the spacious parking lot and ran inside the hospital./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b6549ffb85ba309ccbd204df926e2544""Mike Montgomery?" The nurse pointed down the hall, I ran to the room, swinging the door open to see Doctor Segwen checking on him with his blue clipboard in hand. Mike smiled tentatively at me and waved his fingers at me./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a328710799e7302330a04e6f0b6096b8""You just missed Mom and Dad." His voice was hoarse, probably from screaming in pain last night. It looked like someone thoroughly beat him./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a18878033e1bc9ab0d5466960f77becb""Who did this to you?!" He simply shrugged and dropped his hands at his sides. His eyes were pure black. His lip had several splits in it. He was covered in bruises./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="463b48c059b5a89259d8afb741c4f1b4""I don't remember. I only remember him saying that it was all your fault." My heart pounded in my chest, 10 times as hard as it was before. I walked over to my brother and squeezed him./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a53147698eac735e4564ed03acdcaa35""I'll find whoever did this to you..I promise," I smiled sympathetically and hugged him once more before leaving./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="710048a489f70816c12323d075660eac"I walked outside of the hospital, placing both hands on my head. The tears poured down my face. What was even happening? Why was this all happening?/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2877de1654bce7452b578f8cf269de51""Aria?" I heard someone call my name. That voice...it was vaguely familiar./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e6d8dc92b19046808f53f48cd2d79a24"I looked up as a tall figure approached me. When I could finally make out his features, my face drained of color./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b9a77660062e32ffe526d9ed6f12d96b""It's been forever, hasn't it?"/p 


	12. Chapter 12

**Forget Me Not**

 **Chapter Twelve**

 _"Believe those who are seeking_

 _the truth. Doubt those who find it."_

 _ **\- André Gide**_

 **Aria**

"It's been forever, hasn't it?" I could hear the sarcasm running thickly in his voice.

"Jason." I whisper, in all honesty, I was still scared of the creep. He knew everything about me and everything I thought I knew about him, but those were all lies.

"You look nice."

"What are you doing here?" I asked, ignoring his comment.

He shrugged and chuckled once. "Well, for one, I know what happened with Riley. I know who did that to your brother, and I know who's behind everything." He walked casually over and sat down next to me on the cement step.

"How? How do you know those things?" He laughed again.

"Come on, Aria. You know me." I remained silent, waiting for him to tell me what he knew.

"I don't think I do. Can you just tell me what you know?"

"Oh, c'mon! You have to have some idea of who's behind this!" I shook my head, waiting again.

"I don't. I don't know who would want to hurt Mike..or Riley."

"Think, Aria. I gotta go. You should check on Mike. I'm sure he remembers something. Or someone." Jason stood and started walking back in the direction that he had appeared from.

"Wait! Jason! What do you mean?" He didn't stop or turn around, but I could hear him chuckle again.

"You know my number when you want to talk to me!" I heard him call and then he was gone.

Why the hell would I want to ever call Jason? I shook my head in disgust, that was helpless. I sighed and walked back inside the hospital. Mike was sleeping, but he was holding something in his hand. A piece of paper?

 _Mike Montgomery_

 _6234 Elmwood Street_

 _I need you to take care of this..he's trouble and you need to make sure he doesn't remember anything._

 _-Z_

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Ezra? Ezra wouldn't have wanted Mike hurt, he didn't know Mike! He didn't remember either of us. Why would he write this? Either someone seriously had a sick mind and this was a joke, or someone was trying way too hard to make Ezra look guilty.

I left Mike in the hospital that night taking the note with me. I drove home absentmindedly. When I opened the door to the apartment it was already midnight and Spencer and Hardy were asleep in each other's arms. Seeing them just brought on more pain.

 _"Stay with me! Please?" She whined as Ezra started to stand. It was the night of the same day Aria broke up with Jake. Ezra and Aria had shared cake and officially gotten back together. Things had nearly gotten out of hand, but Ezra put a stop to it before Aria could put whip cream..down there._

 _"I just have to do something real quick." Ezra murmured, kissing her head. He had too many papers to grade._

 _"No you don't." Aria pouted her lip at him. "I want you with me. All night."_

 _That was enough to make Ezra stay. He readjusted them so that she was laying into his chest with her feet spread across the couch. He wrapped his arms securely around her and rested his feet on the coffee table._

 _"I've missed you so, so much." He whispered into her ear, kissing it, then her cheek._

 _"Ezra?"_

 _"Hmm?"_

 _"I love you."_

 _"I love you too. You're my only love in this world, Aria. No one will ever change that."_

I wiped a stray tear that had escaped from my eye and woke Spencer up gently.

"Spence, wake up." I hissed, she jumped and opened her eyes widely. This caused Hardy to wake up, but he was disoriented.

"Gosh Aria, If you want to snuggle with me too, all you have to do is ask." Hardy muttered.

"What, Aria?" Spencer whined, not wanting to get up or move.

"Mike was in an accident." I explained the story and then I showed her the note. It wasn't in Ezra's messy, cute handwriting.

"This doesn't make any sense. Ezra definitely did not have your brother beaten." Spencer said indifferently.

"I know. That's why I needed you. We need to figure out who this is!" I said, sitting on one of our chairs across from the couch.

"Aria, at three in the morning. Hon, I love you, but I'm tired." I heard Hardy giggling and I saw Spencer blush like small children on the playground.

 _Gag._

I nodded and waited for her to speak again. She was thinking, so I remained silent.

"What happened when you went back inside when Ezra was with Hardy?" Spencer pursed her lips, almost as if she already knew the answer.

"We kissed. And he remembered a little bit about us. About me." I bit my lip and looked down.

"Aria. It's Alison. Alison's behind this." Spencer said after a split-second of more thinking and putting things together. My eyes widened and it suddenly all made sense. Of course it was Ali, but how the hell would she have found out about their moment?

Jason.

"I have to go, I'll be back in a while." I stood suddenly and grabbed my purse quickly, rushing out of the apartment and to my car. I took my phone out of my purse and called Jason.

"That was fast. Meet me at Rosewood Park." There wasn't a moment for me to say anything, he just hung up, so I had no choice but to follow his commands. I drove to Rosewood Park.

 **Ezra**

It was nine at night in California and I was just getting ready to go to bed when I heard Alison's muffled voice from inside the bathroom. She was using a tone I had never heard her use before. She sounded angry. I stood by the door, listening intently to her end of a conversation.

"No! I said not to! Why would you even do this? And don't you dare say anything about your feelings for freaking Aria Montgomery! You are an idiot!" There was a pause. "Of course that's what you were supposed to do! You wrote the note and signed it from 'Z,' right?" Another pause, waiting for the other person to respond. "Good. And Riley's out of the picture, too?" Another Pause. "Good. At least you're not a complete screwup. So you've dealt with her brother and former lover?"

"Perfect." I could practically hear her sneer through the door. "Okay. okay..good. Now don't tell her anything, Jason. She needs to think this was all Ezra. Your fake proof better be believable. Oh, and don't let your feelings for this stupid girl get in the way of this. I'm counting on you. Understand me?" She chuckled evilly.

"Bye."

I couldn't believe any of what I was hearing. What was she doing? Who was she talking to? Who were Mike and Riley? What was she doing to Aria?

I heard the door unlock and I quickly moved so it looked like I had just walked into our bedroom. She smiled brilliantly at me.

"Ready for bed, babe?" I nodded and smiled back as best as I could. She could tell something was off. Damn females.

"What's wrong?" She asked concerned, walking over to me and rubbing my arm with one hand and holding on to it with the other. She rested her head on my shoulder.

"Nothing, nothing. I'm just tired, I guess." I led her to bed and she fell asleep quickly. She looked so innocent and peaceful. She looked like the young girl I fell in love with.

But I knew what she really was now.

She was a _liar._

And she would always be just that. A liar.

When I was 100 percent positive that she was asleep, I silently stood from the bed, grabbed my phone, and raced downstairs. I opened the sliding, glass door in our kitchen that leads out to our patio and shut it gently behind me.

My thumb hovered over Aria's name for just a moment before I clicked it and waited for the ringing to stop.

"Ezra?" She asked, confused as to why I was calling her so late.

"Aria, I'm coming back."

It was now, or never.

 **Aria**

I arrived at Rosewood Park a little after midnight and saw that Jason was already there. He was probably there when I called him. He waved me over and I walked over to where he was sitting.

"So you know, right?" He asked me, licking his lips almost back was arched his hands were folded between his legs.

"Alison. Alison was behind it all. How though?"

"She has eyes here.." He pointed to himself and a horrified expression spread across my face. He saw me, he sent the picture to Riley, and he beat my brother. I stood up and slapped him as hard as I could across the face.

"You arrogant bastard!" I shrieked at him, starting to walk away.

"Aria! No, wait! Alison made me. She made me! You don't know what it's like working for her. You don't know what she's capable of." He pleaded as he stood and started following me. I stopped and turned towards him.

"What?" I snapped. "What did you just say to me?"

"I was just-"

"I don't know? I'm pretty freaking sure that I know exactly what Alison's capable of! She's sleeping with the only person I've ever truly loved. She has a daughter with him! She kept him away from me! I know what she's capable of, Jason!"

"I know. I'm sorry. It's just that, look, I'm telling you all of this, right? That's something. I still care about you, Aria, whether you believe it or not. You need to know what will happen if you keep going against her."

"No, I don't. I'm not stopping. She started this war, and I'm finishing it." I started towards my car again.

"Remember that Ezra could get hurt too. Just be careful, Aria. You're screwing with her family now. Her fantasy." Jason said.

"Thanks, Jason. For telling me all of this." I said, waving once and sitting in my car.

As I was about to start the engine my phone started to ring.

It was Ezra.

"Ezra?"

"Aria, I'm coming back." His voice was velvet. I missed it so much.

"What?"

"I'm driving to the airport right now. I'll be there in three hours."

"What? Why?" I was so confused. Didn't we agree that when we kissed outside of my apartment that that would be our last goodbye?

"I know about Alison. I overheard her. Is Mike okay?"

"He'll be fine." I sniffed once.

"I'm so sorry, Aria. I'm _so so so_ sorry." He muttered.

"It's not your fault."

"I feel like it is. I'll be there soon. Bye."

"Bye."

Ezra was coming back. For me. My mouth turned up in a small smile for the first time in a long time it was genuine.

I never thought _Ezra Fitz_ would be coming back for _me._

 **Ezra**

After a three hour flight, I drove quickly to the apartment - I guess it was my old apartment - Hardy left me. My clothes were still there so I would be okay for a week or so. I got a message from Aria asking to meet there instead of her place since Hardy and Spencer were sleeping there.

I turned the doorknob and there she was, waiting for me on the couch, looking beautiful. At this point, I had no remorse, no guilt for Alison. I didn't care anymore. She clearly was insane or evil or both things, but she wasn't for me. Not anymore, and probably not ever. I smiled at Aria and she stood, smiling at me. Her beauty filled the room, and it was all that could be focused on.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey." I sat down next to her as she sat down again. We just looked at each other for a few moments, taking each other in. I always found her beautiful, but how did I not see her this beautifully the first time she came to LA? Did she always smell this good?

"What happened, Ezra?" she asked, keeping her hands folded in her lap. I wanted to hold them. I wanted to hold her, and kiss her, and hug her. But I had to remain in control of myself.

"I heard Alison talking on the phone with someone. About her plans. How she had a fake note written, how she had someone take away Riley and Mike from you, how she didn't want us anywhere near each other...but she's not my boss, and she's not your boss, either."

"You heard her say those things?" She breathed, almost like it was unimaginable.

"Yes. I'm done with her, Aria. I'm done with her lies, and her sick games." I moved my hands to the side and shook my head at the thought.

"What about Marley?" she breathed even more quietly.

"Aria.." I loved the way her name sounded when I said it. I reached over to her and stroked her hair a few times before brushing it behind her ear. "She was never mine in the first place. Couldn't you tell? Alison had an affair with some douche named Toby." Comprehension fluttered across her expression, but she furrowed her eyebrows.

"But she had your curls!" I laughed at the statement and she smiled sweetly and innocently. It looked so genuine. She didn't look as empty as she used to. l I felt so close to her. We were meant to be together. Since the first time we met - which I actually remembered last time I was here. In that bar. I needed her. And I was almost sure that she needed me just as badly, maybe even more. But maybe not.

I leaned into her, her soft pink lips were inches away from mine. She looked me up and down before pressing her lips into mine. The moment was perfect. Nothing was rushed, as nothing was needed except each other. Every soft kiss would become slightly harder, her hands were wrapped around my neck, mine were placed firmly on her waist. Moans emitted from her mouth. Tongues glided against each other. We broke apart momentarily, we stared at each other briefly, her eyes were a shade darker, and I'm sure mine were too. She attacked my face once again, I walked backwards towards the bed. I felt my knees hit the back. I could hear her heels thump to the ground, so I followed her lead and kicked off mine as well. Her hands danced up my t-shirt, gliding her hands up and down my chest. My head swam from the strawberry perfume I smelled. My hands fumbled with her white plastic belt. I got it off with success. Clothes were strewn from one end of the room to the other. We focused on each other and nothing else. I flipped Aria over and paused, looking her over before proceeding in kissing her neck. She looked back at me, in the eye. We said nothing. She wiggled a bit, growing insecure.

"I'm sorry." She tried to get up but I pinned her down and attacked her again.

"You're just perfect." She blushed and we went back to our previous nude make out session, lots of groping involved.

"I think.." I paused and looked up at Aria. "I fell back in love with you from the moment I saw you. I just didn't know it." As I was going to proceed, she stopped me. Tears brimmed in her eyes. She was having second thoughts. She wasn't ready to make a commitment like this with me again. I hurt her so much. I apologized.

"I shouldn't have said that. Oh my- I'm so-" She put her do her to my swollen lips. "What?" She smiled up at me, something that never happened in a moment like this with- _her._

"I never expected to hear those words come out of your mouth again." I wiped away her stray tear and smiled up at her reassuringly. Moans and groans I'm sure woke up the neighbors. Our notices faded into the night. And it was just us, tangled up in sheets, snuggling together.

And nothing could have felt more right in that moment of perfection.


	13. Chapter 13

p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="60a0d5f1d8d1462747a036d93ee774db"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Forget Me Not/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="33ca31f6369755edc1987f5b17cdd18b"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Chapter Thirteen/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="8a7b9e6035b32c00a03519770243ebbc"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""I've been wondering,/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a429cd9ac071c642e376affeec47b709"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"if it's foolish to make/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d4196dc1a726e2e38be194058fa1a3a8"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"new memories when you know/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0196055d2898746a67713810b0b91f39"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"you're going to loose them."/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="5354e0bbed700630cb902de87c1a8a0e"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"-Erica Bauermeister/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a1a013e22a71caf894cbe74b0472bc35"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Aria/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3d3548f33d7fc03b37558b1e5b0f28dd"I awoke to the sweet smell of my favorite cologne. The soft grey from the clouds dimmed the lighting of the small room. I shifted slightly to feel two arms wrap tighter around me. I shimmied around and saw him. The face I thought I would never see again, I never expected to wake up next to him ever again. He chuckled, his perfect cheeks lifting in amusement. I stared in awe, I couldn't believe that we were here, right now. I missed him more than anyone could comprehend. His hair fell down onto his forehead. I swiped it out of the way and he chuckled again. I continued to admire him, the moment was perfect. Indescribable. The feeling of the void in my heart was gone, nonexistent. And any other synonym you could think of. I felt whole again. I almost appreciated Alison getting rid of Riley- almost. His blue eyes fluttered open and his neutral expression changed into a smile. He tucked my chocolate hair behind my head. His grip became tighter around my waist, but not too tight./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="44378794b9024b2802859a69360d19ca""Hello." I muttered. We smiled and blushed at each other./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b7771e1388b14576a4b69af5b47879cd""Hey." His voice was scratchy, groggy from sleeping. "How'd you sleep?" I stretched my arms over my head and laughed lightly./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b42fbe4a44f88b6240f3a292e748c338""I was up for a while, but other than my late night, I slept the best I have in years." He blushed and pulled me on top of him. His hands were on my upper thighs. He pressed a soft kiss on my lips. Before anything could get out of control, a loud ring echoed through the small apartment. I rolled off of him and he leaned over to the nightstand, checkin the caller I.D. His expression changed, his face fell and hit ignore. I bit my lip and looked away from him./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="72291777e539a1ac94317fd6e13e99d1""It was Alison. Wasn't it?" He sighed, nodding./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="18986068bd945ed38d18aaf342d6138e""She's probably wondering where I am.." I nodded and tried my best to not to start crying all over again./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="866767d540b7c22e99bb897ce729b4f2""Well," I cleared my throat. "I guess I'll see you around." I tried to gather up the sheet and wrap it around me. He pulled me back before I could get up and grab my clothes, he pulled me back by my waist, pulling me into him. I looked him in the eyes, the love that was once there was back, he didn't look at me like the girl who belittled his wife in their home so many weeks ago. I wasn't quite sure what we were yet, but he made it slightly clear of what he wanted. I had my doubts about him, though. He wasn't as loyal to Alison as he was our first lunch, but he still had boundaries that I wasn't sure he would cross. This was one of them./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ea7e1c94f1f3f87b40b8fc85b695ce18""You don't have to do that at the mention of her name, okay?" I shrugged./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2f1f53e07cbcdc20d8fee806b617e166""Yes, Ezra. I do." I wasn't going to play pretend, this was the most real anything could get without Alison finding out. I wouldn't act like he didn't marry one of my old best friends. I wasn't one of those people who lied to themselves anymore...I wanted him more than anything...but I couldn't have him without destroying everything he already had. He cupped my cheeks with his hands and pressed a kiss to my forehead. The simple gesture felt so intimate./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6bff46119f89beebe0cbde32a8677023""You're the one I want, Aria. I can't hurt you again. Hurting you is like hurting myself. I can't do that to either of us." He rubbed my back, it felt nice to have the old Ezra back, just for a moment./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1df0ea606536bd7406aee661f042365f""You aren't supposed to cheat on your wife." It was an obvious statement that shouldn't be taken lightly. I promised myself I wouldn't be one to destroy a family; but were Alison and Ezra a true family? Was she an honest wife? I knew the answer was no, but it didn't matter. I was having doubts, I wasn't supposed to be doing this. He kissed me again, even softer this time before pulling away./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="271505392b6c252ea129cabe96eb9763""Your wife isn't supposed to lie, cheat and manipulate you, but I don't think that stopped her." I laughed lightly, still feeling the heavy rush of guilt in my chest. My smile fell, and suddenly I was left feeling dirty. "She's not going to be tied to me forever, Aria." My gaze softened. I leaned in and rested my forehead against his muscular shoulder. Everything came and went, feeling washed away like stains on a tee shirt. An idea popped into my head. I wrapped my arms around his neck and smiled. The sheet fell down to my back, but I didn't care./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0c703001b9e05f391b1d65dc73ce1e91""I brought a purse full of things from before you left.. Do you wanna look at them?" His face brightened and he nodded. I didn't care about Alison anymore, and neither did he. We had each other for the moment, and we didn't mind. It was our chance to be who we once were, even if he didn't remember perfectly. I grabbed my purse from the couch and set it on my lap. I gestured for Ezra to come sit next to me. He came over and sat down next to me. He pulled me into his lap and I unzipped the purse, seeing all of the old things I kept from years ago. I smiled at the warm memories of that time..my past life./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="8521bd7e733c109e205f7761c70c5f56""This is from when I met-" I pulled out the dart from the bag and gave it to him, and as soon as he saw it, he interrupted me./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9d4cab1428782c2849b25f03b99d9583"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Hardy pulled his arm back before throwing the dart at the board, nearly hitting the waitress giving a table their beers./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d16ce00246674256beac9725d17cbbcd"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""So, I bring her back to my place," Hardy was telling the story of hooking up with some random girl at Hollis. "And this dork, starts laughing!" Aria grinned and turned to him./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d6955fb4a660530cede2be4666e16941"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""You laugh in your sleep?" He blushed and nodded. "That's cute."/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7dc7936cd0709acebe9a1e76f4a42de4""Hardy. From when you met Hardy." I smiled at him in awe. This was brilliant, I was suddenly ecstatic that I had brought my purse of memories with me. "Keep showing me our stuff." My heart leapt when he said 'our' and I reached back in pulling out one of his old shirts./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="bf98ceaeca15047591bb63442baadaf5""This is, um, from our..first time together." I ran my fingers against the blue flannel. It was my favorite shirt that he had, it lost his smell long ago but was a constant reminder that he once belonged to me. I studied him as his gaze became dazed, then he finally snapped back to the present and made eye contact with me, smirking./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a813eb2430ac583be354fdbfb47d698f""I remember that." I blushed and he kissed each cheek where the blood had rushed to before he kissed my lips again. I broke apart though, I wanted to show him everything. I wanted him to remember everything./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a2bbf0e683482abe3aaa94385898a3bb"I found a bracelet and necklace from when we recreated our first date. We made it our anniversary./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="59e3d980d5b9ea468642989208f99374"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""Do you know what this weekend is?" I watched as a younger version of me sat next to a younger version of...Aria! A younger version of us both were sitting on the same couch that was in this same apartment. Her feet were rested my his lap, my lap, and there was only love for each other in their eyes./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="aafc26f1946c3d9a55eed485c788deb2"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""How could I forget?" She stood and walked over to the fridge. "Labor Day is the anniversary of Alison's death."/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7dad3765e0c9e79e7e2f42bd23807857"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Well that explains the missing poster in the Snooker's memory...that must've been Aria in the Snooker's memory too then, right? I interrupted my own train of thought./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="df525851d3ab0158e9c5937c95d0a008"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""Or, I was about to start a teaching job, and you thought you might like to teach..." He followed her out to the kitchen and pointed at her accusingly, smirking at her. "Was that true or were you just hitting on me?"/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1bebb0d9ce63c22d1c8e33f421afa434"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""Did you really play B26 or were you just hitting on me?" She countered, he chuckled./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="8b7aee9ed8258478fb42001da96c3752"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""Can we make this..our anniversary?" I watched as the younger version of myself moved closer to Aria's younger version. "Instead of Alison's."/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e3a0631113bf8b1cc0f11b500d0e682d"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"They talked about the book I was reading from the Snooker's memory and finally, something happened./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ca20765ddc1f06fb0ac13cd82dc208f2"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""I'm just a hopeless romantic...I thought we could..recreate the date." He smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7525bd55f8942b509f429b0658ecc46a"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""I wouldn't exactly call it a date; we ended the night in the bathroom." She scoffed and younger Ezra chuckled./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f17d918ca7621bfad444158c9169b89c"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""I remember." He nodded and moved his arms to pick up Aria. "I think it went something like...this?" He lifted her onto the kitchen counter./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="124ba21569264a1dc24334c48896f945"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""Then I did something like this." She wrapped her legs around his waste and they looked into each other's eyes just for a millisecond before they were kissing./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9b5f9aaf394376ccfeb3d300d2ae615b"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"At the end, he kissed her nose and they continued kissing./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="342a8470bec2616d8e2ea959e71d7c5a"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Aria/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1ccdd0dc98120d2d8cbc9f309e6a6743""That was a good day," Ezra said softy, I was astonished that he actually remembered that one./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="bf48f205ed9e2f4cfa93627cb6ac9c10""It was." I agreed just as quietly. It was silent for a heartbeat, but I continued looking through my purse. I tugged out a spoon from our first coffee date, among other things. I felt something crumpling and found a neatly folded piece of paper on top of the purple dress that I wore when met Ezra./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7ab2efb8f934392797835e52c9455f7b""What is this?" I unfolded it, and annoying tears dropped down my face. "Aria?" He read it over my shoulder and smiled instantly./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="fc7dcd73253fc0136c408eba217551b2""em style="box-sizing: border-box;"What're you doing?" Her voice sung as she opened the apartment door. He blushed and shuffled around some papers before hiding what he was looking at./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d52714c89af0e2cb3b1e15c82b6cbbac"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""N-Nothing." He gave her a boyish grin and got up. His face a deep shade of red. "What're you doing here so early?" She narrowed her eyebrows./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e9e8ddaf46b70b21fc49ee6d86d4129c"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""I'll tell you once you tell me what you're hiding." He scratched his head./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ac345336c5eccd006229da443ae07b90"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""Ar. It doesn't matter." She scoffed./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="395d26a715dbb1650c4c39a3129c3168"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""Yes, it does. Show me." She was getting mad. What was such a big secret that he couldn't share with her./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7c77af4d2ac825cf8897f9dbc28e1774"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""Aria. It's nothing." Frustrated, she shuffled through his stack of essays, her eyes falling on the poem, B-26./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="441a2d8c560d4b1bd8494b585a111569"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""Ezra.." She smiled. "Why are you so embarrassed about this poem?" He scratched his head and turned an even brighter color of red./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="fe8d5d518436e8ef8a0123f494d3c649"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""I wasn't embarrassed, I just like to read it. It reminds me of you. And how you're all mine." She pressed a kiss to his lips and pushed him on the couch and sat on top of him, the remote in her left hand with the poem./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="94d7270f62c94954e0854e9338157c7b"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""It's a number, It's a song, it's a girl.." She held the remote to her mouth, like a microphone. She put it up to his lips./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="4db93ffeec07d818c06bf810e230ebbe"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""Smooth. Pearl Joy packed. Gold Fafafel, as though ice." They laughed at eachother. He caressed her cheek. "I love you." He whispered. She closed her eyes./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="efbe4fbbf11e8a8bbac47ea825b6d972"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""I love you, too. So much."/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a72e36a9d57c3348343b0c7ddad04ca0"We sat in absolute silence, I couldn't stand him not talking. It made me feel like I did something to make him stop. I loved his voice. He pressed his hands to his eyes./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="5887b4f958fd38a6e12405c07954b0cc""Oh my.." He rubbed his temples. He looked like he had had an epiphany. "I remember us. I remember you. I remember our first time, your parents, I remember the way your face looked when we exchanged 'I Love You's' for the first time." My face brightened./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="15b6378c88fcd2ca597d4873a87f339f""You really do?" He nodded and held my hands, running his thumbs over my knuckles. I felt my self crying all over again./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="903d8782f5ccd70bf8d4b45343f9be18""What? What's wrong?" I shook my head, trying to get him to stop worrying./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2d29eee3918f7938c8ea797b1b45b5f6""It's nothing. I just never expected you to say that again." He smiled, wiping my tears away. I blushed./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="080fef9eb5dc5be05fd79a478bedb467""I'm sorry." I wrapped my arm around his neck and put my finger to his lips./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="8be12b0eb22c0360fa455688457d8738""No more apologies." He laughed deviously, pulling me closer to him. Keeping in mind that we were still half nude. As he started kissing me, he spotted something else in my bag./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="fb90cad9f8a66e76304b4dc184aa0f2f""What's that?" He asked between a kiss. I pulled back and saw what he was looking at. My keychain. My old keychain. The last thing of mine that he touched before leaving Rosewood./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="96752d24b8f6c963ed91fc5261d13a43""Just my old keychain, nothing important." I lied quickly, kissing him hard again to distract him. I didn't want him to remember why he left. Not yet, anyways. He let it go, losing himself in our kissing./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0d8d7637dede0448d68badfb8d3badff"A harsh knock rumbled throughout the apartment, not paying any attention, we continued out very sinful make-out. We heard the doorknob jiggle, and suddenly Hardy and Spencer burst through, causing all four of us to scream and me and Ezra to fall off of the couch and onto the floor. Spencer smirked and eyed him, I scowled at her and pulled on a shirt that went down to my knees. By the time I looked up, much to my dismay, Ezra was dressed in pajama pants and UC Berkley t-shirt. I frowned for a moment, but my expression turned neutral. Hardy was practically on the floor but in laughter rather than annoyance./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c17f71a9757f35313b0502d295ad1a18""It was about time you two laid each other!" Ezra rolled his eyes and Spencer gave me the "Tell-Me-Everything-Or-Suffer" look. I bit my lip and nodded./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1d33782e7d8123621d5ff499e916c818""What are you two doing here anyways?" I questioned, Spencer shrugged./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9d3493a49c040a46549f0974fbd3eff9""We were going to take Ezra, here, out to breakfast, and show him around town, but I see he was slightly busy to do much of anything besides..." We rolled our eyes as Hardy imitated squeaking bed springs and bad French kissing./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="4db5364fa38ecf4d193fd1b7232d6750""You're almost as bad as an eleven year old, I swear, Hardy." Spencer shook her head and then looked at me. "You guys up for breakfast?" I looked at Ezra, he nodded./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c7f3c949fdceb563a5cf18566eb32baa""Lets go."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="60b582cdc2771aac54f3028e0f95a39b"Everything felt like it was coming together for me, except the small threat of Alison hanging in the background./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b6d13d776b9412571051655024afa4d1"For some reason, I couldn't get that out of my mind./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9c0f0b59a4cb6d6c59f6002bf3892a28"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Alison/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6bc2d06e75869dcb44c71a90a23c6f8d"So many voicemails./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ac905c721022d0c61672b9c4c99bc733"It felt like I had left 1,000 voicemails on Ezra's cellphone. He hasn't picked up once, and Marley was starting to freak out. She wouldn't stop crying, she was bawling her eyes out because her Daddy didn't give her a good morning kiss./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9014996a8db85febd8c7a505e8d491aa"I wiped the sweat off my brow, I was running on the treadmill. The garage door was ajar and I could see Marley watching Disney Channel. I clicked it off and took a swig of water, kicking my shoes off in the doorway. My phone was buzzing on the counter. I ran over without even checking for a number or caller I.D./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c8d4cda48fc557fa028aab4a40ae9ce1""Is it Daddy?" Marley chimed. I hit answer with my pointer finger in the air./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e0b14166264c31a7aa833b62f259702c""Alison?" My father's voice came through, instead of the deep one I loved from Ezra Fitz./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="dd5ad0520cf0ac41f30ce6116f447e46""Dad, hey." My heart thumped against my rib cage, my father never called me, unless he wanted something. "What can I do for you?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1f21d16ee95e608b6694a1db5d5fecd8""I was wondering if you wanted to come down to Rosewood for Christmas? I haven't seen my granddaughter in since her second birthday. Please." I sighed, Christmas was in a matter of a week. Ezra wasn't even answering my phone calls. He wasn't even home. If Ezra was to be anywhere, that wasn't Los Angeles, it would be Rosewood./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="24827f6160911c1c7286b1b3bb7174ef""I'll be there, tomorrow or the next. Not sure. I'll call you." Hanging up, I looked at my precious ball of innocence on the couch./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="5fe18619f32860f9c8e078fe98bf5f92""Pack your bags, baby girl. We're going on vacation to see Grandpa."/p 


	14. Chapter 14

p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="60a0d5f1d8d1462747a036d93ee774db"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Forget Me Not/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="33ca31f6369755edc1987f5b17cdd18b"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Chapter Thirteen/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="8a7b9e6035b32c00a03519770243ebbc"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""I've been wondering,/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a429cd9ac071c642e376affeec47b709"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"if it's foolish to make/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d4196dc1a726e2e38be194058fa1a3a8"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"new memories when you know/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0196055d2898746a67713810b0b91f39"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"you're going to loose them."/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="5354e0bbed700630cb902de87c1a8a0e"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"-Erica Bauermeister/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a1a013e22a71caf894cbe74b0472bc35"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Aria/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3d3548f33d7fc03b37558b1e5b0f28dd"I awoke to the sweet smell of my favorite cologne. The soft grey from the clouds dimmed the lighting of the small room. I shifted slightly to feel two arms wrap tighter around me. I shimmied around and saw him. The face I thought I would never see again, I never expected to wake up next to him ever again. He chuckled, his perfect cheeks lifting in amusement. I stared in awe, I couldn't believe that we were here, right now. I missed him more than anyone could comprehend. His hair fell down onto his forehead. I swiped it out of the way and he chuckled again. I continued to admire him, the moment was perfect. Indescribable. The feeling of the void in my heart was gone, nonexistent. And any other synonym you could think of. I felt whole again. I almost appreciated Alison getting rid of Riley- almost. His blue eyes fluttered open and his neutral expression changed into a smile. He tucked my chocolate hair behind my head. His grip became tighter around my waist, but not too tight./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="44378794b9024b2802859a69360d19ca""Hello." I muttered. We smiled and blushed at each other./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b7771e1388b14576a4b69af5b47879cd""Hey." His voice was scratchy, groggy from sleeping. "How'd you sleep?" I stretched my arms over my head and laughed lightly./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b42fbe4a44f88b6240f3a292e748c338""I was up for a while, but other than my late night, I slept the best I have in years." He blushed and pulled me on top of him. His hands were on my upper thighs. He pressed a soft kiss on my lips. Before anything could get out of control, a loud ring echoed through the small apartment. I rolled off of him and he leaned over to the nightstand, checkin the caller I.D. His expression changed, his face fell and hit ignore. I bit my lip and looked away from him./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="72291777e539a1ac94317fd6e13e99d1""It was Alison. Wasn't it?" He sighed, nodding./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="18986068bd945ed38d18aaf342d6138e""She's probably wondering where I am.." I nodded and tried my best to not to start crying all over again./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="866767d540b7c22e99bb897ce729b4f2""Well," I cleared my throat. "I guess I'll see you around." I tried to gather up the sheet and wrap it around me. He pulled me back before I could get up and grab my clothes, he pulled me back by my waist, pulling me into him. I looked him in the eyes, the love that was once there was back, he didn't look at me like the girl who belittled his wife in their home so many weeks ago. I wasn't quite sure what we were yet, but he made it slightly clear of what he wanted. I had my doubts about him, though. He wasn't as loyal to Alison as he was our first lunch, but he still had boundaries that I wasn't sure he would cross. This was one of them./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ea7e1c94f1f3f87b40b8fc85b695ce18""You don't have to do that at the mention of her name, okay?" I shrugged./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2f1f53e07cbcdc20d8fee806b617e166""Yes, Ezra. I do." I wasn't going to play pretend, this was the most real anything could get without Alison finding out. I wouldn't act like he didn't marry one of my old best friends. I wasn't one of those people who lied to themselves anymore...I wanted him more than anything...but I couldn't have him without destroying everything he already had. He cupped my cheeks with his hands and pressed a kiss to my forehead. The simple gesture felt so intimate./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6bff46119f89beebe0cbde32a8677023""You're the one I want, Aria. I can't hurt you again. Hurting you is like hurting myself. I can't do that to either of us." He rubbed my back, it felt nice to have the old Ezra back, just for a moment./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1df0ea606536bd7406aee661f042365f""You aren't supposed to cheat on your wife." It was an obvious statement that shouldn't be taken lightly. I promised myself I wouldn't be one to destroy a family; but were Alison and Ezra a true family? Was she an honest wife? I knew the answer was no, but it didn't matter. I was having doubts, I wasn't supposed to be doing this. He kissed me again, even softer this time before pulling away./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="271505392b6c252ea129cabe96eb9763""Your wife isn't supposed to lie, cheat and manipulate you, but I don't think that stopped her." I laughed lightly, still feeling the heavy rush of guilt in my chest. My smile fell, and suddenly I was left feeling dirty. "She's not going to be tied to me forever, Aria." My gaze softened. I leaned in and rested my forehead against his muscular shoulder. Everything came and went, feeling washed away like stains on a tee shirt. An idea popped into my head. I wrapped my arms around his neck and smiled. The sheet fell down to my back, but I didn't care./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0c703001b9e05f391b1d65dc73ce1e91""I brought a purse full of things from before you left.. Do you wanna look at them?" His face brightened and he nodded. I didn't care about Alison anymore, and neither did he. We had each other for the moment, and we didn't mind. It was our chance to be who we once were, even if he didn't remember perfectly. I grabbed my purse from the couch and set it on my lap. I gestured for Ezra to come sit next to me. He came over and sat down next to me. He pulled me into his lap and I unzipped the purse, seeing all of the old things I kept from years ago. I smiled at the warm memories of that time..my past life./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="8521bd7e733c109e205f7761c70c5f56""This is from when I met-" I pulled out the dart from the bag and gave it to him, and as soon as he saw it, he interrupted me./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9d4cab1428782c2849b25f03b99d9583"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Hardy pulled his arm back before throwing the dart at the board, nearly hitting the waitress giving a table their beers./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d16ce00246674256beac9725d17cbbcd"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""So, I bring her back to my place," Hardy was telling the story of hooking up with some random girl at Hollis. "And this dork, starts laughing!" Aria grinned and turned to him./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d6955fb4a660530cede2be4666e16941"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""You laugh in your sleep?" He blushed and nodded. "That's cute."/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7dc7936cd0709acebe9a1e76f4a42de4""Hardy. From when you met Hardy." I smiled at him in awe. This was brilliant, I was suddenly ecstatic that I had brought my purse of memories with me. "Keep showing me our stuff." My heart leapt when he said 'our' and I reached back in pulling out one of his old shirts./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="bf98ceaeca15047591bb63442baadaf5""This is, um, from our..first time together." I ran my fingers against the blue flannel. It was my favorite shirt that he had, it lost his smell long ago but was a constant reminder that he once belonged to me. I studied him as his gaze became dazed, then he finally snapped back to the present and made eye contact with me, smirking./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a813eb2430ac583be354fdbfb47d698f""I remember that." I blushed and he kissed each cheek where the blood had rushed to before he kissed my lips again. I broke apart though, I wanted to show him everything. I wanted him to remember everything./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a2bbf0e683482abe3aaa94385898a3bb"I found a bracelet and necklace from when we recreated our first date. We made it our anniversary./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="59e3d980d5b9ea468642989208f99374"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""Do you know what this weekend is?" I watched as a younger version of me sat next to a younger version of...Aria! A younger version of us both were sitting on the same couch that was in this same apartment. Her feet were rested my his lap, my lap, and there was only love for each other in their eyes./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="aafc26f1946c3d9a55eed485c788deb2"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""How could I forget?" She stood and walked over to the fridge. "Labor Day is the anniversary of Alison's death."/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7dad3765e0c9e79e7e2f42bd23807857"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Well that explains the missing poster in the Snooker's memory...that must've been Aria in the Snooker's memory too then, right? I interrupted my own train of thought./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="df525851d3ab0158e9c5937c95d0a008"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""Or, I was about to start a teaching job, and you thought you might like to teach..." He followed her out to the kitchen and pointed at her accusingly, smirking at her. "Was that true or were you just hitting on me?"/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1bebb0d9ce63c22d1c8e33f421afa434"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""Did you really play B26 or were you just hitting on me?" She countered, he chuckled./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="8b7aee9ed8258478fb42001da96c3752"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""Can we make this..our anniversary?" I watched as the younger version of myself moved closer to Aria's younger version. "Instead of Alison's."/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e3a0631113bf8b1cc0f11b500d0e682d"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"They talked about the book I was reading from the Snooker's memory and finally, something happened./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ca20765ddc1f06fb0ac13cd82dc208f2"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""I'm just a hopeless romantic...I thought we could..recreate the date." He smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7525bd55f8942b509f429b0658ecc46a"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""I wouldn't exactly call it a date; we ended the night in the bathroom." She scoffed and younger Ezra chuckled./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f17d918ca7621bfad444158c9169b89c"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""I remember." He nodded and moved his arms to pick up Aria. "I think it went something like...this?" He lifted her onto the kitchen counter./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="124ba21569264a1dc24334c48896f945"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""Then I did something like this." She wrapped her legs around his waste and they looked into each other's eyes just for a millisecond before they were kissing./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9b5f9aaf394376ccfeb3d300d2ae615b"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"At the end, he kissed her nose and they continued kissing./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="342a8470bec2616d8e2ea959e71d7c5a"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Aria/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1ccdd0dc98120d2d8cbc9f309e6a6743""That was a good day," Ezra said softy, I was astonished that he actually remembered that one./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="bf48f205ed9e2f4cfa93627cb6ac9c10""It was." I agreed just as quietly. It was silent for a heartbeat, but I continued looking through my purse. I tugged out a spoon from our first coffee date, among other things. I felt something crumpling and found a neatly folded piece of paper on top of the purple dress that I wore when met Ezra./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7ab2efb8f934392797835e52c9455f7b""What is this?" I unfolded it, and annoying tears dropped down my face. "Aria?" He read it over my shoulder and smiled instantly./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="fc7dcd73253fc0136c408eba217551b2""em style="box-sizing: border-box;"What're you doing?" Her voice sung as she opened the apartment door. He blushed and shuffled around some papers before hiding what he was looking at./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d52714c89af0e2cb3b1e15c82b6cbbac"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""N-Nothing." He gave her a boyish grin and got up. His face a deep shade of red. "What're you doing here so early?" She narrowed her eyebrows./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e9e8ddaf46b70b21fc49ee6d86d4129c"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""I'll tell you once you tell me what you're hiding." He scratched his head./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ac345336c5eccd006229da443ae07b90"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""Ar. It doesn't matter." She scoffed./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="395d26a715dbb1650c4c39a3129c3168"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""Yes, it does. Show me." She was getting mad. What was such a big secret that he couldn't share with her./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7c77af4d2ac825cf8897f9dbc28e1774"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""Aria. It's nothing." Frustrated, she shuffled through his stack of essays, her eyes falling on the poem, B-26./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="441a2d8c560d4b1bd8494b585a111569"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""Ezra.." She smiled. "Why are you so embarrassed about this poem?" He scratched his head and turned an even brighter color of red./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="fe8d5d518436e8ef8a0123f494d3c649"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""I wasn't embarrassed, I just like to read it. It reminds me of you. And how you're all mine." She pressed a kiss to his lips and pushed him on the couch and sat on top of him, the remote in her left hand with the poem./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="94d7270f62c94954e0854e9338157c7b"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""It's a number, It's a song, it's a girl.." She held the remote to her mouth, like a microphone. She put it up to his lips./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="4db93ffeec07d818c06bf810e230ebbe"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""Smooth. Pearl Joy packed. Gold Fafafel, as though ice." They laughed at eachother. He caressed her cheek. "I love you." He whispered. She closed her eyes./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="efbe4fbbf11e8a8bbac47ea825b6d972"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""I love you, too. So much."/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a72e36a9d57c3348343b0c7ddad04ca0"We sat in absolute silence, I couldn't stand him not talking. It made me feel like I did something to make him stop. I loved his voice. He pressed his hands to his eyes./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="5887b4f958fd38a6e12405c07954b0cc""Oh my.." He rubbed his temples. He looked like he had had an epiphany. "I remember us. I remember you. I remember our first time, your parents, I remember the way your face looked when we exchanged 'I Love You's' for the first time." My face brightened./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="15b6378c88fcd2ca597d4873a87f339f""You really do?" He nodded and held my hands, running his thumbs over my knuckles. I felt my self crying all over again./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="903d8782f5ccd70bf8d4b45343f9be18""What? What's wrong?" I shook my head, trying to get him to stop worrying./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2d29eee3918f7938c8ea797b1b45b5f6""It's nothing. I just never expected you to say that again." He smiled, wiping my tears away. I blushed./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="080fef9eb5dc5be05fd79a478bedb467""I'm sorry." I wrapped my arm around his neck and put my finger to his lips./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="8be12b0eb22c0360fa455688457d8738""No more apologies." He laughed deviously, pulling me closer to him. Keeping in mind that we were still half nude. As he started kissing me, he spotted something else in my bag./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="fb90cad9f8a66e76304b4dc184aa0f2f""What's that?" He asked between a kiss. I pulled back and saw what he was looking at. My keychain. My old keychain. The last thing of mine that he touched before leaving Rosewood./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="96752d24b8f6c963ed91fc5261d13a43""Just my old keychain, nothing important." I lied quickly, kissing him hard again to distract him. I didn't want him to remember why he left. Not yet, anyways. He let it go, losing himself in our kissing./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0d8d7637dede0448d68badfb8d3badff"A harsh knock rumbled throughout the apartment, not paying any attention, we continued out very sinful make-out. We heard the doorknob jiggle, and suddenly Hardy and Spencer burst through, causing all four of us to scream and me and Ezra to fall off of the couch and onto the floor. Spencer smirked and eyed him, I scowled at her and pulled on a shirt that went down to my knees. By the time I looked up, much to my dismay, Ezra was dressed in pajama pants and UC Berkley t-shirt. I frowned for a moment, but my expression turned neutral. Hardy was practically on the floor but in laughter rather than annoyance./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c17f71a9757f35313b0502d295ad1a18""It was about time you two laid each other!" Ezra rolled his eyes and Spencer gave me the "Tell-Me-Everything-Or-Suffer" look. I bit my lip and nodded./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1d33782e7d8123621d5ff499e916c818""What are you two doing here anyways?" I questioned, Spencer shrugged./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9d3493a49c040a46549f0974fbd3eff9""We were going to take Ezra, here, out to breakfast, and show him around town, but I see he was slightly busy to do much of anything besides..." We rolled our eyes as Hardy imitated squeaking bed springs and bad French kissing./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="4db5364fa38ecf4d193fd1b7232d6750""You're almost as bad as an eleven year old, I swear, Hardy." Spencer shook her head and then looked at me. "You guys up for breakfast?" I looked at Ezra, he nodded./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c7f3c949fdceb563a5cf18566eb32baa""Lets go."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="60b582cdc2771aac54f3028e0f95a39b"Everything felt like it was coming together for me, except the small threat of Alison hanging in the background./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b6d13d776b9412571051655024afa4d1"For some reason, I couldn't get that out of my mind./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9c0f0b59a4cb6d6c59f6002bf3892a28"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Alison/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6bc2d06e75869dcb44c71a90a23c6f8d"So many voicemails./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ac905c721022d0c61672b9c4c99bc733"It felt like I had left 1,000 voicemails on Ezra's cellphone. He hasn't picked up once, and Marley was starting to freak out. She wouldn't stop crying, she was bawling her eyes out because her Daddy didn't give her a good morning kiss./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9014996a8db85febd8c7a505e8d491aa"I wiped the sweat off my brow, I was running on the treadmill. The garage door was ajar and I could see Marley watching Disney Channel. I clicked it off and took a swig of water, kicking my shoes off in the doorway. My phone was buzzing on the counter. I ran over without even checking for a number or caller I.D./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c8d4cda48fc557fa028aab4a40ae9ce1""Is it Daddy?" Marley chimed. I hit answer with my pointer finger in the air./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e0b14166264c31a7aa833b62f259702c""Alison?" My father's voice came through, instead of the deep one I loved from Ezra Fitz./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="dd5ad0520cf0ac41f30ce6116f447e46""Dad, hey." My heart thumped against my rib cage, my father never called me, unless he wanted something. "What can I do for you?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1f21d16ee95e608b6694a1db5d5fecd8""I was wondering if you wanted to come down to Rosewood for Christmas? I haven't seen my granddaughter in since her second birthday. Please." I sighed, Christmas was in a matter of a week. Ezra wasn't even answering my phone calls. He wasn't even home. If Ezra was to be anywhere, that wasn't Los Angeles, it would be Rosewood./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="24827f6160911c1c7286b1b3bb7174ef""I'll be there, tomorrow or the next. Not sure. I'll call you." Hanging up, I looked at my precious ball of innocence on the couch./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="5fe18619f32860f9c8e078fe98bf5f92""Pack your bags, baby girl. We're going on vacation to see Grandpa."/p 


	15. Chapter 15

p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="cf9913730c3dc40a4a2f0ce1217b4c18"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Chapter Fifteen/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="4ab2e3b49ffa83c0cee0c46531d41188"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""/em/spanem style="box-sizing: border-box;"The future for me is already/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="8829e4ada44dcb14685e3b2f9e57e899"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"a thing of the past -/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="4e3423016b3f31334aa44c072d1c8e2b"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"You were my first love, and/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d0a29cf24c90083b63be72639f31a3d0"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"you'll be my last./emspan style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""/em/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0dbd23cad3c75f5a6143046893c737f5"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"- Bob Marley/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="dc53785d25a3e11fb45aa5dbc946e293"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Ezra/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f4a5186e673c8867dac0867bc53eaa6b"A loud slam of the door woke me up from my deep slumber. I looked to the side to see that nobody was sleeping soundly next to me. Aria was gone, and the sheets weren't warm all of a sudden. I heard the jingle of her keys as she threw them on the counter, her face was red and puffy. I was lost. She was clothed, but you could tell it was something she threw on within seconds. She sniffled and rubbed her head. I jumped out of the bed and walked to her, kissing her forehead. She was freezing cold./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="45f26922314afd085388c606898b3c94""Where've you been? What's wrong, babe?" She flinched and backed away. Had I done something? "Is it me? I-I can go.." She shook her head at me and wiped her nose. If it were anyone else, I would see it as a gross gesture of sadness, but when Aria did it, it was cute, but a sad cute. I frowned as she walked away from me and sat on the couch. I sat next to her and pulled her into me. Hugging her close, trying to warm her./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c025074c2702f5494250b92de0a8d704""Is this about Alison?" Her eyes grew, but shrunk soon after she realized her quick reaction./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f6e6d556896d5e6e085547d4d4c769a5""N-No. I just found something that-" She was lying and it felt like Alison all over again. I didnt want to compare, but it felt repeditive./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3faa5483fc6574277eedff50484e66e2""You don't have to lie. We can be honest with each other, Aria." I may have forgotten who she was, but the moment I saw her again, it was like reading an already opened book. Like cracking a code only I knew like the back of my hand. The way she paused before she spoke was always a dead give away, and the way she avoided my eyes and stammered. She breathed through her nose and grabbed my hands./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7043a3c671f74eba8aa3c0fa59957956""I love you, alright?" I nodded. I wasn't sure I wanted to know where this was going. "But, please-" I stopped her quickly./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e89644ab9e7357fb622d9a6df1568654""If you don't think we should be together anymore because of Alison, or-or just because you don't think we would work, I understand and I won't force-" She put her finger to my lips to shut me up. She shook her head, and let a new batch of tears stream down her angelic face./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c19a135417bca36b498e456003bdfdfe""No, no, no. I just want you to give me time to tell you, because this is big, and I want you to be in the best of shape and- and I can't spring it on you, so, I just need time, because I can't even comprehend it." I was speechless, what was one supposed to say? I nodded. She pressed a kiss to my lips and smiled sadly. Aria sniffled and rubbed my arm./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e67ccdf641594b8f698d47d70fbd2886""So, breakfast?" She put up such a good front, if I didn't know any better and she wasn't crying, I wouldn't have suspected a thing. Which led me to believe that whatever she was hiding or protecting me from was big, bigger than even I as I writer could imagine./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a1a013e22a71caf894cbe74b0472bc35"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Aria/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9ab3b843c2886e1a010976ea7d35b9d2"We sat at the mini table and ate our chocolate-chip pancakes in silence. He was worried about me, because every time he would look at me, he would shoot me puppy dog eyes. The snow wasn't as bad as it usually was, and by the time we had both taken showers and were covered head to toe in socks and layers of clothing, we were ready to take on an extremely lazy day. I was buddled up in Ezra's Hollis sweatshirt and he wore a tight UCLA one. I thought back to just a few hours ago, at Jason's apartment. He was right, everthing he told me was big. Too big for someone like me to handle. And if I couldn't find someone I could trust to confinde in, I would explode and tell Ezra everything. Now I knew what I needed in order to take Ali down for good. But if I did, I would be taking Ezra away from me too, emotionally./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="59cedf40c964ba03cf8dc004790cda99"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"The Night Before/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b125d871e2c50a2040f931cbf8e09f50"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"I slammed my fist against the run down apartment complex door, Jason had buzzed me up. My hand was numb from the cold, and I had foolishly forgotten to wear a swearshirt that could endure such weather. Jason's door swung open and his hair was everywhere, and it wasn't cute, nor attractive./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="66201de9962c76c677276f5ecc4fa9c6"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""Aria, please come in." He stepped back and allowed me to enter. It was a mess, papers scattered everywhere. Phone records, bills, boxes with the tile 'EVIDENCE' . Sighing I sat down on the kitchen stool with my purse clutched close to my body. I was afraid I would lose it in such a pig pen./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="243f8daaf533cd2e29af864e377dcbb5"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""What happened?" He ran a hand through his har and let out a sigh. His breath stuck of alchohol, which made me question his sobriety. I could've just walked into a drunken booty call unknowingly./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b3b715c322b47e90d914bfe97c6541bc"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""It was Alison. She staged the accident in hopes of him getting brain damage, Aria, it was all her. She planned her life to be like this. The only piece that was screwed was you. You weren't supposed to come back. I've never been a rat, but if you knew the things I had to do for her to get what she wants.. You wouldn't believe me." He had tears in his eyes, but the only thing I could hear was Alison staged the crash. She was the one to bring the inconvinence to me. She wanted him to fall for her fake charm and lure him into a death trap. She tricked everybody around her into thinkig that she was an innocent long time girlfriend who was crushed that my beloved couldn't remember her. I sighed and suppresed tears./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="572979f9bd963736a7948d50dd80f1d3"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""Continue," He looked me in the eye, as if to ask 'Do you wanna know?'. I folded my hands on the counter that was infested with bred crumbs and paper. The sink was full of dishes. It looked like a true horror stoy had taken place./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="56d534d72e40704b51024d7729363099"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""It started a few weeks before you told Ezra to leave. He was a mess, and thats not an understatement. You destroyed everything he had, because you were the only person he had. His mom didn't care and Wesley was so into you that he couldn't look at Ezra without feeling like he owed him something for kissing you...when I say go home and don't tell him, I mean it. Alison could kill me for confiding in you." I nodded quickly, waiting for him to continue. Everything I missed, everything that I never knew..Jason had answers. I didn't know how I would keep this from Ezra...but if I had to, maybe I would...but I couldn't be like Alison. I wouldn't. We couldn't go down that dark path, and I wouldn't hurt Ezra or lie to him...I couldn't./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c72525596fa27955b958a8d2494b9718"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""Anyway, When he left, Ali was already in California. She was only here for visits. Nothing more, nothing less. She called me and told me she had a plan. Something that would resolve her issues with Ezra. I thought she was going to be honest," He scoffed. "But we both know Alison better than we would like to admit. She paid me to get in that accident. She said she would make sure I wouldn't get hurt, so I rammed into Ezra, straight on, and jumped out and crawled away before anything could be fatal...Aria I regret it. If I could take anything in my life back, it would be helping Alison destroy what you and Ezra had, I just can't ever forgive myself." He inched closer to me and I was tempted to step back, but for some strange reason, I didn't. I stood there like an idiot, letting him approach me. He lifted my chin up and pressed a kiss to my cheek. I reacted quickly. I flashed him a horrifed look. How could he? How dare he?/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="bc6780c499cefadd14e2a89aab192b1c"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""Why would you do that?" He threw his hands into the air, widening his eyes./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9367b6f47d65ffef9d677138be4366ad"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""I-I don't know. I just thought that maybe we-" I shook my head and my hands, pulling my hair back, on the verge of tears. "You were in a vulnerable state and I took advantage of that. Aria, I'm sorry. I just thought maybe we could have a chance. I don't know why I-"/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9df8bafa41e841678e9c0077d6d17648"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""Stop!" I didn't want him to speak anymore. Tears pooled in the cracks of my eyes and poored down like rain did in a drought. I picked up my purse, it gave me an unknown sense of security while I was in this shit hole Jason called a home. I pointed towards the door./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1a98f5ab0c01398aa4e79f694b9e7d68"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""I'm leaving, but...thank you, for helping me with the missing cracks in the story.." I turned the knob and walked out halfway before I turned around again. "We can only be friends, Jason." He nodded and waved, I nodded at him. I shut the door and climbed into my car. I drove to Snookers, which I knew was closed at this time of night. It was almost 5:00 and I knew I had to get back home to Ezra. I shrugged it off, and sat down in front of the run down bar, trying to reminisce of what happened there, twice now. What if it was all a dream that I couldn't wake up from? What if I was in a coma and was trapped for the rest of my life. I remembered everything so vividly. The way he looked when he said he was a jerk, that he would trash the book. I should've listened, because if I did, I could have prevented it all. Ezra and I could have climbed back up to where we once were, taken things as slow as we could, but because of my stubbornness and his need for my happiness to be the first thing, I could only blame myself. I had to weigh my options carefully. If I told Ezra, he would take Alison to court and she would be charged with murder, poor Marley.. what would happen to her? Would someone track down her actual father or would she be forced into a foster home? I couldn't be the reason to subject an innocent four year old to such a condition, nor could I wish it upon her because she was just that, a four year old girl who didn't have a clue of what her mother was capable of./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="60120af830dc35b2646e955e04f82dbe"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"My thin sweatshirt was withering away, and it felt as if I had nothing on in the snow. Basically naked in the thick white powder that covered half of the Eastern hemisphere. I sighed and crossed my arms. I couldn't tell Ezra, but I would eventually. He had to know what he would be doing if he filed those divorce papers. The question about Marley still remained. I always wanted to be a mother, but to one of my own. I definitely didn't want Alison's offspring...she wasn't even Ezra's. I kept sobbing and it felt like the choice was already decided for me./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="31de9f14e0b9cb3160e91610deab4609"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Tell Ezra when the time is right./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="04293b55e78052f4bfa7824e601f41d3"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"And now when we were in such a fragile state, with his memory flooding back every now and then, we were not in the same world./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b37b9e24bfedd823e67823b21dcc909c"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"All I had to do then, was wait./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="610d73ca34bc4c7485f19d1202b49b7b"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Present Time/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="51a925cd8cccf9baaf05e12213301d9e"I understood that telling him would crush him, and I wasn't sure if he would be angry or sad or any other emotion one felt when they found out their significant other put them on the brink of death? All I could think of was Marley. What was she going through right now because Alison caught us in the moment? Nothing good. I could assume nothing Alison said to Marley about Ezra right now was true or happy./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="abe4689f8c74b64bdac84c0a463a26d3""Babe?" I turned as he called me, he was smiling at me, guilt pulsed through my veins. If only he knew the severity of the situation. "I'm gonna go talk to Alison about the divorce. Are you gonna be okay?" My smile dropped and I nodded, unsure. Would he eat her lies out of her hand? He took notice in my internal struggle and kissed my nose./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="54817b1e914f48105294da1ac5cebe97""You don't have anything to worry about. I love you." I muttered an 'I love you, too', he walked out of the door with his keys in hand./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d97e40d213ef9d16937383a121de1288"If only he knew how much I had to worry about./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9c0f0b59a4cb6d6c59f6002bf3892a28"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Alison/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6188e9b444b4fb3f01509e9eefec2ba6""So. I guess you know what I'm going to ask." I was preparing the vegetables for dinner in two days, and I had too much to do to talk to my dad about Ezra./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a6dc8ef35fdf5003c8c8fed7d2ab802a""Ezra and I aren't in a good place, Dad," My dad nodded but looked at me lovingly. "I hurt him. A lot."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9e2c87a99d184dd5a9b1e6db81185a0b""He-he didn't hurt you back. Right?" I shook my head and watched Marley play with her barbie innocently. Her games with dolls had the same storyline, a perfect family falls apart because of something the mommy did a long time ago. It's usually something like eating all the ice cream or taking too many cookies from the jar. She was a smart kid and I knew that she would figure my plan out if I didn't fill her head to the brim with lies. My dad excused himself. He told me he had a friend with some lawyer questions, so I gave him a kiss and waved goodbye, when he left I continued watching my daughter, running around with her dolls like they were superheroes. She ran towards me but I couldn't look her in the eyes. No yet./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="cb0c8e49b870008cc884960e31049b69""Mommmaaaaaa!" She cooed. I loved her, and that was undeniable but what would I tell her besides 'Daddy won't be coming home, ever again.'/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3dcfbd45a9d26449580d106ae5b3935c"My thoughts were taken when I heard a harsh knock on the door. I set Marley up in a chair with some carrots. I swung the mahogany door open to reveal Ezra's face. I smiled, thoughts of a new beginning filled the cracks of my mind. Nothing could've been sweeter. He wore the UCLA sweatshirt Marley and I bought him for his birthday- since he thought he was an alumni. He held a Manila folder in his left hand and was biting his lip as if to keep from saying something rude./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3dd976dbfcadfb24c67f20598e094193""Ezra," I couldn't be angry with him, even though I should have been. He was with Aria, but I understood. Maybe he was leading her on so he could get 'answers'. He was silent, avoiding my eyes. "Look, babe.." He flinched./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e2bfe241348dc2ebdf10b7396b400dc0""span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Stop/span."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="8dbaa6ad767fc01ca22ef5aa0c361c66""I know I should be mad and you should be mad at me, too..but we can work through this. We em style="box-sizing: border-box;"can/em be the couple we used to be. Marley has been asking a lot about where her Daddy was and I didn't want to tell her you weren't-" He lifted his hand to make me shut up and I did./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a5c8e6a1d81cd874784d29c1b1fdbfe0""You should tell her that she might not see Mommy again.." He trailed off, not daring to look up and my eyes that held all of my fury. Was he threatening me?/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a9cb31126d692e9fa2d40a93eedf10a7""What?" He sighed and played with the Manila folder./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0206496b53883de59d7a0e281be296d6""I want full custody of Marley."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="68acfb998faaf9f89293969c459d79eb""Ezra, what are you talking about?" He handed me the folder and crossed his arms over his chest./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ce4e9bf6d84ef46da499260599d50d9b""I want a em style="box-sizing: border-box;"divorce/em, Alison."/p 


	16. Chapter 16

p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6db96ce3c5bbb7025087c09126bb319f"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Chapter Sixteen/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="19fe7759a7ae8e28805ec13dac956acb"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"" /em/spanem style="box-sizing: border-box;"Yes, sometimes the odds are really stacked against you, but no that doesn't mean you'll fail./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0ff51b1e658c44699811f44bb3df7745"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"You've already proven you can beat the odds./em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3e1163af1e832c24a634e607de8f6ef5"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"So, do it. /emspan style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""/em/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f050422288347c818bf72d2498106624"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"-/em/spanem style="box-sizing: border-box;"Doe Zantamata/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="dc53785d25a3e11fb45aa5dbc946e293"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Ezra/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ce4e9bf6d84ef46da499260599d50d9b""I want a em style="box-sizing: border-box;"divorce/em, Alison."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="8d09ef49026463cf0999ca16fa139761"I watched her face contort, very slowly, very scarily. She was enraged, she wouldn't let this go. At least not without a fight./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="184826be0ea6837abb5851807f7a9e2b""What?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="60ffefa82340230f6ba8bc145ac0e8f7""You can have the house, the furniture, anything!" I tried to lighten the mood./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="8bcd1bfc1b768df8b47773a4bbaf753c""How. Dare. You!" She snarled. "How dare you threaten me. After everything we've been through! After everything I've done for you! For us! For our family! This is how I'm repaid?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c654a9928b40d2cfcddcc05ff632d07b"I swallowed hard, watching Marley look up in confusion, then joy as she saw me, then fear as her eyes grew wide at our expressions and Alison's obvious rage. I didn't want her to take anything out on Marley./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b92adf94bead653fb6e48e915aebbf80""Alison-"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e592b3f1a772d23421f145da5252f4e5""No! Stop! Get out of my house! Now! As far as I'm concerned, you're done here. You're done with Marley, you're done with me, you're done with this family! I hope you're happy, Ezra, because you ruined everything we worked for because you wanted a younger whore who stole you from me!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1fe6f42ed936553f0f2b42bd1cd1e0a0""Mommy, no!" Marley cried, standing up and running over to me, grabbing onto my leg. "Don't go! Don't go, Daddy, don't leave me!" It broke my heart. I willed the tears to stay back and I forced the lump in my throat to disappear as I cleared my throat. I kneeled down and wiped her tears, as any good Daddy would./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="75c6778363cde1538954d3835d9374a0""Daddy will be back, Mar. I'm coming back for you. Don't worry. I won't let Mommy hurt you." She looked into my eyes with her watery, blue ones. The same as mine. It hurt even more to know that they weren't even my eyes. "Remember what I told you, Marley. Just put your hand on your heart and think of me. I'll be back, Bug, I'll be back."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="bd26e1cfb8dcc6347dc217afa5be3afd""Don't get her hopes up with lies, Ezra, you'll never see her again. You know that." She yanked Marley away from me and slammed the door in my face as I stood silently on the front porch. The manilla folder that held the legal bind to Alison, was with her, and that's all that was important right now, besides Marley being subjected to her madness. I knew she would read it, too, she'd try to get her father to find some loophole and shimmy her way out of this divorce, but it wasn't happening. Not this time. She wasn't escaping. I didn't care if I forced her to sign those papers. Veronica Hastings already agreed/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="34c7924e175e155e4aa696b4f6c57b76"I turned away, closing my ears off to the sound of my daughter sobbing and screaming, I got in my car and drove 20 over the speed limit to get home to Aria./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9c0f0b59a4cb6d6c59f6002bf3892a28"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Alison/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0953fa9b8c5ba521dc106a222c8ac95a""I hate you!" Marley screamed. A sentence that I had never heard come out of her mouth. She had only said 'hate' one other time, when she was telling me how much she hated green beans. I never made her eat them again./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="4c19699dbde43f1f4aac8b4d3031e981""Marley, no, baby!" I cried as I raced up the stairs to follow her into my old bedroom. It had been remodeled and redecorated into a room just for Marley. The things my father did for her. She sobbed into her elbow on her bed./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="4cf3199e9fcad9eb89367a5f4a6d9159""Why did you say those things, Mommy? Why would you make Daddy leave?" She sobbed, her eyes looked at me with the accusation of betrayal and I didn't like it at all./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="196f50538b9f9df39dfbb7efbf93c011""I'm sorry, baby! I'm so, so sorry! But I-I couldn't let him hurt us again! Not again, baby, not again!" I murmured, pulling her into my arms as I sat on the bed. She fought me, but ultimately gave up./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="32ae5896f3d3a01a991455bcf4825e9a""What? He never hurt us, Mommy!" She wailed, her tears soaking my shirt./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="378b5a9d098545b7636a349315fa6694""Yes, Mar, yes he did! I just didn't want to tell you. I didn't want to upset you, Bug." I raced my brain, thinking of the first wild lie that came into my head that I knew she would believe. "Remember when Daddy was gone for a really long time and when he came back, you asked him if Miss Aria was taking him away? Well, he lied when he told you know, baby. He loves Miss Aria more than you and I. He's with her right now."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ea91a676f71348f32c57a1749be8c306""No! You're lying to me! Daddy would never lie to me! Never, never, ever!" I could hear in her tone that she would give up easily, she would give in and believe every word I muttered to her./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="28d49856e48028722fcc648e6272e811""I'm not lying, love. He loves her more than you." And there it was./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1972f23afd1558053bee4f38cd0f2db6""Noooo!" She sobbed, clinging onto my arms for her life. Her heart was broken, for a split-second I allowed the guilt inside. How could I have done this to my sweet Marley? Because I had to. It was as simple as that. I was going to win. If it was the last thing I did. I didn't care what it took, or what happened...I would win./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d1907b02e29dfe72747fae0447ea26bb""I know, Mar, I know! I'm sorry, baby. I love you, though. I love you so, so, so much! And that's why I had to send Daddy away." She cried for another half hour before she calmed down and fell asleep in my arms. I laid her in the bed and covered her gently with the sheets and her blanket. It was getting dark anyways and my father would be home soon./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="eec298dca75f897b847b6cc9480a4dc6"There was only one thing left that I had to do./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="96e7d36fe89079a8e63e32170458f4c2"I walked downstairs with a new feeling of determination. I found my black Coach purse on the kitchen counter and dug through it until my fingers came across my Blackberry./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="bca79c564ba536f01860831324d12ac0"It rang three times before his voice filled my ear./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="61927b57341ab56dff8545531b737c66""Hey, girl. Where're you? Where's my daughter?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="26c4841199141a26e4d12b083500d0d4""Shut up and listen. You need to get down here as quickly as you can. There's been a little problem, and I know you remember the deal we made before Marley was born. I need your help."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="73bb60cdc78c777d9b1187ec0f780f0f""Well it must be your lucky day, cause I'm right outside Pittsburgh, I'll be there in an hour."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="406f21c3f85fc94df32dae97e00c4a99""Good." I smiled./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="21ffa25e55602c26baa3e0a12b41a16b"It was a good day to sin./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a1a013e22a71caf894cbe74b0472bc35"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Aria/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7382eaae3e95e292ccdb88c191b1b926"I was sitting on Ezra's old couch in the apartment, looking around. I had organized and reorganized his bookshelf, his music, his clothes, my clothes. Everything was OCDishly neat and clean. I had been driving myself crazy since the previous night. With Jason. With the new information I had discovered and the accidental kiss./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="88c7c9643605d9b53972f62e701348ad"I kept repeating every word, every detail he had told me over and over in my head. I was fidgeting with my purse which I had on my lap because I had just finished organizing that too. The doorknob turned and I jumped as Ezra forced the door open. I jumped up and ran over to him, seeing just a glance of his face. I wrapped my arms around him and he held me in his arms, too./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="365aee3314bd8fae04f6b3b4cc826292""Ezra, what happened?" I asked, I could feel the sadness radiating from him. Something bad had happened, I could feel it. He didn't answer immediately, instead he led me over to the couch and pulled me down next to him. I didn't snuggle into him though, I had to look at his face, watch him as he spoke to me./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="5b52d142e2cb4cff037612f73281f90c""Um, well, Alison wasn't too happy about the divorce...and even more upset about me wanting custody over Marley, so she told me I'd never see her again. I can just hear the lies she's telling my Bug right now. Aria, she's gonna hate me! She's gonna be a different little girl when-if- I ever see her again." I hugged him tightly, he wasn't crying, though. He wouldn't. He wanted to be strong./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="09cf026128eb1f24e408e1681bb0191b""I'm so sorry, Ezra," was all I could mutter. I didn't have experience with marriage or children, except for our brief encounter with Malcolm, so how could I possibly help?/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="146610f2ef7d38a6f0fc3520c95de74a""I don't know what to do, babe," Ezra mumbled in my ear. My heart warmed as he called me 'babe.' Every time he touched me, looked at me, called me a special name, it always made me smile to know that it wasn't a dream. A precious, dream that I was afraid to wake up from. It was real and he still loved me./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="898950607e870d315d6a8a0d2815faad""I know what to do, But you just have to trust me. Okay?" I murmured. I held his face in my two hands. He had beads of sweat dripping off of his brow from his encounter. I knew exactly what to do, I had a plan. It was going to work, too, I could feel it. The only kink, was telling Ezra the awful truth that I decided I couldn't keep bottled up any longer./p 


	17. Chapter 17

p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1d358c0b0076d9f5e5a6902745e0669f"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Chapter Seventeen/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d2da864100ea670b8bfc391a8f32204e"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;""/spanem style="box-sizing: border-box;"We wait around a lifetime/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="75b1e087f96ecef2868bfdd2a5af1303"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"for one person, we can find/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="536803c626e04b15e2d1d3f6f0698771"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"in a moment with someone else. /emspan style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""/em/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="90c23102cef2285e2e9684b403fe56ff"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"- /em/spanspan style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Stephanie Klein./span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a1a013e22a71caf894cbe74b0472bc35"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Aria/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="530615bba6e9210f10b98152f24a152b""Sit down." Confused, Ezra sat down on the couth with his hands folded together in his lap. I stood before him, just as short as I always had been. These were the only moments when I would ever be as tall- or taller - than him./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="887d1e68de7716ecdc11e7de7a86a772""What's going on, Aria?" I could tell just by his tone of noice that he was even more nervous for what I was about to lay on him. What would be worse? Telling him that he had some secret kid that he didn't know about? Been there, done that. I realized a while ago that my life was like a really bad Lifetime movie. "Does this have to do with your plan?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="733804c9294cb17ca12dcadfe380b929""Yes." It was then that I grew an ounce of confidence. He wouldn't be em style="box-sizing: border-box;"that /emmad, would he? His leg was jiggling and you could almost hear his heart beating, no matter the short distance between us./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c213f4b165a5cea17d0ce868c7dc7b2e""Go on." I bit my lip, twiddling my thumbs. I did have a right to be nervous to say it out loud./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6e56cb867e3ddceb28b0142861e2fa8c""Ezra, when I tell you this, I want you to hear me out and listen to everything I have to say. Can you do that?" I was talking to him like a baby, plus I was being unknowingly ironic. Why would he listen to me say that it was Alison who caused the accident? Afterall, thats his almost ex-wife, and mother of a daughter whom he loved so very dearly. Of course he wouldn't return the favor of listening when everything he said to me when he was writing the book went through one ear and out the other./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c3b8c36d4da71b289f5fcb1b4e3c5e3d""Okay? Can you just tell me? You're starting to scare me." I sighed, looking him straight in the eye, looking for a shred of something- anything. They just stayed a deep ice blue./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="533b46ff9e039a90d05f0403f7cee5c4""I was out late last night." He was following and encouraging me to continue with small head gestures. "I was with Jason DiLaurentis. In case you didn't remember, that's Alison's brother, who told me that he wasn't allowed to have anything to do with yours and Alisons family, and I know why.." Ezra scrunched his forehead./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="05238ceda900d326a1365c77ab1974ad""Alison always told me that it was because he got back into drugs and alcohol and she didn't want him around Marley while he was still hooked. But why should I beleive her now? She lied to me about my entire life?" He laughed nervously. "But, why did she keep him away, the real reason?" Sucking in every molecule of oxygen, then swallowing my pride, I belted it out like it was a song that I couldn't keep inside my head./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1df0790bc77a50b1ef1912338ed7b7d3""Alison was the one who caused the accident."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="302fd9c80b4295a741bba4db7481fda3"Breathing ceased to be heard, but two hearts pounding against two ribcages wasn't enough to justify what I had just done. I had officially ruined everything; it was demolished in a pit of Alison's 'I told you so'. She knew that just this would happen, build our relationship up to such a fragile point, just to loose the pieces in the dark once again. If things stayed silent much longer, I was sure my void would return and be just as big as it was before./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="195a1ae77fe009aa4ad4dedf6afc847d""She wasn't in the car. She paid Jason to hit you. Alison wanted you to either die or have seviere brain damage..which was pretty successful." I refused to cry. It wasn't a time for me to be crying. I had no reason to shed a tear in his direction right now. Our story had always played out as him as the strong one, but not today. He crummbled. He let out of a few before bottling it back up. He wiped his face, and stood up./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="780bc1f5783fbcf02e504a6d8210cc7d""Perhaps I should go. Y'know, get some air. Is that- Is that okay?" I walked over towards him, putting my hand on his bicep. Ezra watched my hand and looked me in the eyes, just as i had a few moments ago./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="935852cbdc5cfcd17fcffa7e091a33ff""Don't shut me out, babe.' I wiped a tear off of his cheek. "Ezra, I'm here for you. No matter what. I promise I won't lie or hurt you." I smiled softly, he sat back down on the couch, holding my hands./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="19f419936809f5b7d55e5d063935bc6c""Thank you." I responded by giving him a hug, his hands wrapped around my waist, mine around his neck. It was intimite enough. He needed me, and I would be there for him. It's not that I didn't think this would be hard, but I figured my plan to destroy Alison and her life, would all come into play the moment Ezra could actually say more than three words to me./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="dc53785d25a3e11fb45aa5dbc946e293"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Ezra/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0850777d0ea75700ff4b6454b38b0cf5"I couldn't have been more speechless. It was Alison all along. How come I didn't see the signs? It had been exactly two hours since Aria told me the truth, and I couldn't be more thankful. I was ready to take Alison down. I needed to do whatever I could to get Alison into jail and manage to get Marley back. Something in the back of my head told me that all the evidence laid in California, but I couldn't go back. Not alone at least. I needed Aria. She was the best moral support anyone could have. I sat at the park bench, all I could think about was Marley, it was half past 5:30, so I wouldn't be surprised if she was fighting with her mother about eating green beans and having brownies for dinner instead of a nice green salad or whatever Alison decided to make. I got up and listen to the kids in the back of the park by the field screaming and playing with frisbees, I wanted one of my own..so bad. I walked across the street and back into the apartment complex./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3de19807a27873ac9d8d3c288eda1012""Aria?" I yelled when I came in. She was huddled over the stove making what smelled like Macaroni and Cheese./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="bac96fd3336a71d9d6f7b62dc89fba4a""What're you doing?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="75f8aaa319b6d8ba95223ddf8738929b""Slaving over a hot oven becasue I love you and you love me and don't want me to die from food poisioning." I chuckled./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6384e3eb629a7d36938b76385b8e33ed""No, really."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="8bc55100bfef0c7b8118b592f5c0319c""Making enhanced Mac and Cheese. It's pretty good, you've had it before." I sat at the small table by the kitchen./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f9a381aaf6d6480da75870b543edd9ed""Ar?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ce65082bf17e6a4f3b8e43aace30a01d""Hmm?" She was too busy stiring and mixing to look up at me./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a066360a9b7011a5ceaabb74b737270b""I was thinking while I was down there..and," I sighed. "You said you had a plan to take Ali down." She turned and put the wood spoon down on the counter./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="570096f1b91c3a05b6b3cd2ab2112d0a""Ezra.."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="df91478ae9c6bd8f00ac707723eb87c6""I want in." A smile twisted on my face. I would get Marley back. Even if it's the last thing I did./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9c0f0b59a4cb6d6c59f6002bf3892a28"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Alison/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="df50cabd4695e13d66919d8fa5a07383"As Christmas neared, we only had two days left, I was becoming more and more stressed. I worked all day on meal prep and I still wasn't done. Growling, I fed Marley her tacos that I made the last second and she picked off the lettace. I would've shoved it down her throat, but she didn't fuss too much over it. Knocking interupted my mental checklist./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="5ddac64a08f80a2cbc26ed5682020e86""Daddy's here, Mar." Her head perked up and her face fell./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e9ac733b46548cdc179fce55e747568a""Tell Daddy I hate him! I hate Daddy! He's a jerk!" I scolded her and she bowed her head./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2e2a8d5ac341e2e1aabb55e74dd39c11""Wrong Daddy." I smirked and made my way to the door, swinging it open./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="885b731f2fc15456f387ec3a9f439cab""Toby." My voice was plain and flat. Toby pushed me out of the way and into the home./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="897bf0f6477ad1efdf78696da787513d""Where is she?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="5dcd1b46bbee33a0d5b1119696fa6238""Kitchen." Toby truged down the hallway, his motercyle boots were muddy and making tracks on the hard wood floor below it, I wanted to say something, but I didn't. I followed Toby into the kitchen. He stood in the door way while Marley munched on shredded lettace. He was quiet, only looking over her features. She had a cleft chin, that i could only assume came from him, though I had one too, bright blue eyes, just like Ezra's, and blonde hair that was slowly turning into a dirty color. Toby set his backpack down and turned to me with a tear in his eye./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="36d135ac00b2d6ed9cb84375f123fd1d""She's beautiful." He looked back at Marley who was now more concered with who the homeless man in her grandfathers home was. Toby sat next to her in the dinning room, trying to be respectful, I closed the door that led from the kitchen to the dining room./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b563d1681293c992158bf44c5b3f8084"I wish I could see the look on Ezra's face when he realized he would never see Marley again. In a way, I almost felt bad for taking her away, buyt he should feel just as bad for cheating on me with some short freak, whom he barely knew- after the accident of course. I sat on the couch, flipping through the notifications on my phone./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b77aacb64923571d8cb71f07b426bd4b"If this was winning, I would order a sweet side of victory with every meal./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e593925c436940eb3051a69142543c88"Another knock on the door interupted me from my thoughts.\/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="300440744d4759a499a374583f22d904""I got it Mommy!" Marley yelled as she turned the nob, my pulse quickened as I saw the black uniforms and hats they were wearing. They carried badges on their chests and guns in a holster around their waist./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d78336fbe9a2de30af59c59f751ee0bf""Hi!" The officer bent down to be level with Marley./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="664efa7d81b3227e1716aceabaa036fa""Hi!" Marley was quick to pull me towards the door. The officers crossed their arms and I told Marley to go play with her toys in the other room with Toby./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="fd34eb6aafb804d7fd31c7fe1b8a86d3""Hello." They looked me up and down before speaking./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="95476236f9f8d6338b09487772b9a1f6""Are you Alison Dilaurentis-Fitz?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e99eee2c38bfcc7dc29a54759b12c664"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Shit./em/p 


	18. Chapter 18

p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e4787b40b4ebb9307956057dd52c938f"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Chapter Eighteen/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ec11e00d53e90d3575f26e478784265f"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""If justice is denied, let the /embr style="box-sizing: border-box;" /em style="box-sizing: border-box;"law of karma take the ride. /embr style="box-sizing: border-box;" /em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Nothing in this world is done /embr style="box-sizing: border-box;" /em style="box-sizing: border-box;"without a price."/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="192dd81a25a403aa18bc3a029f9610c0"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"- Anonymous/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a1a013e22a71caf894cbe74b0472bc35"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Aria/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="edeb9eb2519cc2c443267ef13efb9f7d"I was pacing around the apartment, chewing on the inside of my cheek. We had basically created the perfect plan to get Alison behind bars and Ezra custody of his daughter, although I wasn't really sure how perfect the Marley plan would work since he wasn't really her biological father, but we would deal with that when that came up later. Ezra was jotting down the key aspects of the plan on a yellow pad of paper. He had that crazed, reporter look in his eyes and I had to stifle a giggle. He looked up at me and smiled sheepishly./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2ba1116f1e175ee6826380b557b80c8a""Am I getting too into this plan..?" I shook my head, sitting down next to him./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e9119c18c8821fd83d334433386cdd8e""Not at all, I find it quite sexy, actually," I bit my lip, smiling as he leaned forward to kiss me. I leaned into the kiss for a few, short seconds before I pulled away./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9666d0e2732284c4d5e77115c51bf825""We have to focus, Ezra, this is important. I think we should call the cops..."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="5c9562176feee9e4af7e62733fdc1bae""Right now?" he breathed, eyes widening. I nodded and he agreed, nodding back at me./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="588bef9ce8207b43673a4f7dd198b64a"I crossed the room and brought the landline phone with me. I dialed 911 as my thumb hovered over the 'send' button. Why was I nervous? Alison deserved this...she deserved this fate. Marley, however, did not. She was just a baby. But she would be okay, Ezra would get custody of her...and I would be like a mother to her...but was I ready for that task? That job? That responsibility. I swallowed hard and stared blankly at the phone. Ezra's arms wrapped around me and he leaned close to my ear./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="52de3551841b171169a5f50fd62544d6""It's okay, Ar. This is the right thing to do. We're doing the right thing. I promise, you." I looked him in the eyes and saw that he was smiling genuinely at me. "You're not a bad person, Aria." His thumb pressed my thumb onto the 'send' button and it began to ring. He wrapped his hand around my hand that was holding the phone and brought them both to my ear./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2fcb412a408413a88b6e248ecc0b4648""Rosewood Police Department, what's your emergency?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="22ca9b1d401b13fa8369923066a62e8a""Hi, yes, um, I'd like to make sure that my identification remains anonymous?" I swallowed hard again as I waited a tenth of a second for the response./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ca431a994cd474201960ddbb12549eb5""Ma'am, are you in any danger at the moment?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="4df200ff15ce05973d0e38b107bc70ea""No, but there is someone who is a danger to the city. Her name is Alison Dilaurentis. She attempted to kill my-my boyfriend's friend's cousin by bribing someone to crash their car into him seven years ago." There was a brief pause before the woman spoke up again./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="5502e5a2027376480f459e0886bf176b""Are you positive she was in an assisted hit-and-run?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f9732199c5290646351fc5dd00995ade""Yes. My boyfriend's friend's cousin's name is Ezra Fitz. He used to live in Rosewood, he moved away, and now he's back. Alison Dilaurentis almost murdered him and I won't feel safe in this city until she's behind bars!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="31ac6613ea540f036293713f4cd371be""Do you have an address for Miss Dilaurentis?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="12ace8436c64ceb907536640b58788f0"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Toby/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d45bde001b8aee4c478926b84f608e1f"I heard the masculine voices coming from the front room so I stepped out from the kitchen. Marley was holding onto Alison's leg as Alison stared wide-eyed at the police officers in front of her./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2b105989d56332c4219127d496c5844e""Are you Alison Dilaurentis-Fitz?" I could hear them ask./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c826fbf346866cdf32687ded71d13502""Y-yeah, I am. What do you need, Officers?" she was frozen in place. I walked towards them and placed my arm around Alison's shoulder, turning half of my mouth up in an attempt to grin./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0b39211e7416abb2a9568994251f3861""Good evening, officers. We were just about to sit down for-" they cut me off abruptly, answering Alison's question./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="23ecf5f9ab6f4e7f07a4fc3cf3f23cb8""We have reason to believe that you assisted a hit-and-run car crash from about seven years ago. Please turn around and put your hands behind your back. We have some questions to ask you back at the station."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e5aa3a366a0c7c5eafbb631ed9d175ac""There must be a mixup...y-you must have mistaken me for someone else. How dare you accuse me of such heinous crimes!" her voice stayed at the same volume, but you could hear the acidic tone in her voice; that was always enough to make people uncomfortable in their own skin-but not police officers./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b7444ed28c1c04144b465ec7cb7ab9c8""If it's a mistake, then you'll be back in your home tonight. Please turn around, Miss Dilaurentis-Fitz. It will be a much shorter process if you cooperate."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="fff1b14c455a88b04d99a98f4f200c29"She turned around, making eye-contact with me for a split-second. I took Marley in my arms as I pried her from Alison's leg./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3ae7b0f515f2e1d2979219a118d3aab4""Mommy? Where are you going? Why do they think you hurt somebody? Only Daddy hurts people!" Marley asked, tears streaking her face./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="09c55272aee7cae48c6ba1fa268637f7""Mommy will be back, Baby. Don't you worry."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="edc50739720a5c5811010cbc46834e89"The officers escorted Alison to the police car and I shut the blinds after the door was closed and locked. Marley sat in front of the fireplace on the rug, hugging her knees to her chest. Tears were silently falling down her face, but all I could care about was that she was mine. I made her. And I wanted her./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a14df6756304f5f0cb79dcb0072d8852""Marley?" I tried, clearing my throat. It was raspy from all the cigarettes I smoked, but I didn't care. In all honesty, I desperately wanted a smoke right then and there. But Marley was more important at this moment./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="50c9186fb413189cf7fc1cf33a948ce0""You're my real daddy, right?" she asked, craning her neck around to look at me before she turned back and gazed into the fire. I walked towards her and sat down next to her as I began answering her question./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3c338994ec3ade3b572de58b18954a9b""Yeah. I am. I'm sorry I wasn't with you for all this time, but I am now. And I want you to know...I want you to know that no matter what happens, I'm gonna be here for you from now on. Okay?" She nodded and looked into my face, her eyes were a bright, sparkly blue. Just like Alison's. Here she was. The little girl I never thought I would want. Sitting in front of me, just as vulnerable as her mother was when she came to see me the night she said she was pregnant. "I love you, Marley...what's your middle name?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e4d53928f5b96bb1fe270bc403b17ffe""Grace-Marley Grace Fitz."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1ae18e6367d5890097dbf779ff41b462""Well, Marley Grace, I love you. What do you say about coming to live with me? Would you like that?" Her had bobbed vigorously. I felt like a terrible parent. I missed everything./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6daa8a8e6ee1ded416bf7d9d6753c956""Yes, Daddy!" I smiled as she stood and plopped down in my lap. "I love you, too."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="dc53785d25a3e11fb45aa5dbc946e293"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Ezra/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="60f3522dc92fa3c5e36d99c75d7dcaf9"I walked around the police station, waiting for Alison and Marley to arrive. Marley would be brought here because there was no one else to take care of her. Alison's father was always unreliable in the past, so he would not take care of her now./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b5b9cbb13bc38de49b74fa435e66e042""Ezra!" Aria hissed from the chair she was sitting in. "Stop pacing around!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="14d0d384c18e14166fb09dea3f366976""Sorry, sorry," I sighed, sitting down next to her. My nerves were shot and all I wanted was to see my baby. My Marley./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1842db175166a445c946b526900c5277"Soon after, we both spotted a blonde figure walk inside. The officers led her down the opposite hallway so she couldn't have seen us. Good. We called anonymously for a reason./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ffe9bf50ae1aea430938cb159df52dcd""Marley's not with them, Ezra," Aria whispered to me. My heart began to race. Where else would she be? Where else could she be?/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="36a402037f2c96e2da8eb67bfd565ed0"But then it dawned on me./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1197bdfd0c6246e40fc09b1ab79c97a6"Alison wasn't even 1% stupid. Deceitful? Yes. Cruel? Yes? Bitchy? Definitely. But stupid? Not a all. She wouldn't have come to Rosewood with the risk of the police without having a backup plan. And I had an idea of what she had up her sleeve./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="75ea87f77a6cbc415b5f69731bab668a"Toby./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c5f5bdf70a0ef318ba52b9464f66e0a4"Marley's biological father had to be here...with her./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="137f8a54324c9670176d4994e5974c1e""She's not coming, either. I know what happened." I grabbed Aria's hand and led her outside as we went to my car./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6d2851fdfc9efac53be75b7e5e973c6e""What is going on, Ezra?" she asked once we were buckled in and I was driving./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="35c354ad2a333ed9f8cc039cb8c3650a""Marley's biological father is here. He's with her right now and I'm going to get her."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="cca0baee7473cf3ea3c4645345e91e8d""Wait! What? Stop the car, Ezra!" Aria demanded. I wasn't stopping though, I accelerated instead and continued driving to Alison's old house. "Ezra, I'm serious. Stop the car!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ece723a4f13d8896b721f919a5797d5e"I braked and pulled to the side of the road, gritting my teeth together and breathing through my nose./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6d71e0388c83c1da73e297819349f284""We can't go there. We can't get her. Technically, that's kidnapping, Ezra!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="164955064aa5b996e6d724c51415195a""I don't care! My name is on her birth certificate! She has MY last name! I'm not letting her stay with that freak of a man while Alison's rots in jail! I don't care if I'm not her biological father or not! She's my daughter!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="77d9a4452aa1beab450b6fd9c69237b5""I know, I know. It's not fair. But we can't get her, Ezra, we can't." She put her hand up and hesitated a moment before placing it on my right arm, rubbing it up and down. "I'm sorry all of this happened to you. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's all my fault...and if I could take all of it back, I would. I'm sorry."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b034f59222006a917390d535132bad07"I shook my head./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="52d3e8ca3c83e57a2fb826cf8ded348c""No, it's not. Don't apologize." I breathed, leaning towards her and brushing her hair away from her face. "I love you so much, you know?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="096e8b1bd818bfd6bb64b68deb6ff881""Let's go home and wait to see what happens...you will get Marley back."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a70c366f1b82466f5bc0bf041ecf5031"Three Months Later/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="efe7fcf3411e5955953667f886324c9d"Alison's court date was scheduled for a rainy day in April. That was the day where we would get to see Alison's fate decided by someone other than herself./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="70e0ab6940d50d7f2f747fe9b25187e9""Are you ready?" I called right as Aria emerged from the bathroom wearing a black, pencil skirt with a dark lavender blouse. He hair was down and wavy, almost reaching her ass, but not quite. "Wow...you look...amazing!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="89dfda93784f07f41d5d4320d522450a""So do you, Mr. Fitz." She looked me up and down, admiring the khaki pants and baby-blue dress shirt I was wearing. She crossed the room quickly, wrapping her arms around my neck and stepping on her tiptoes to kiss me. I kissed her back, wrapping my arms around her petite waist to yank her closer to me./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6e644e70a9fe3145c88b5b6261af5754"* * */p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="fb1468083b6956c86e9b2cbdb5d5ee66""Quiet! We have now reached the time where the jury will declare the verdict." The judge announced. Aria was practically bouncing up and down on the bench and I could tell she was nervous./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="8c9c224fa682f344631fdf59a977e31c"Very slowly, the eldest member of the jury - a small, grey-haired woman with glasses - stood up and began speaking./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f5ebcb5cb37631e9693ec1804df33269""We, the jury, find the defendant guilty of assisted manslaughter and bribery."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b7861d6cddb98f6323ea82906a5125c6"There was a small moment of absolute silence before the crowd began to murmur. Alison stood in her orange jumpsuit and looked around cluelessly. She didn't know what to do. There was a small fraction of my heart and yearned to comfort her, but I pushed it away. The feelings I had for her were built on lies and therefore meant nothing./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="44873fbf7e0fb15a9f9cf3fae1889ede"As Alison was walked down the hallway, she spotted us and whispered something to the officer. He nodded and she began walking towards us./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="5d2e50a15f01cc41b768c6be934c9de2""I hope you're happy, Aria. You got what you always wanted. I'll be out of your life for good, now." She spat. I stood and shielded Aria from her as I spoke./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d619da8a4b7792bbdaa2698de2ee05f2""Where's Marley, Alison?" She chuckled at the question with spite./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="37cac7786ea6d0ee93fc2269e19901e4""You'll never see her again, Ezra. She was never your daughter to begin with. She's in a better place now." Alison smiled and walked back to the officer./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="23acb67a3e741188b93f95b122391ac4"What the hell was she talking about? I was going to get custody.../p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c5b3e894ff855760e5196533af5bda44"I had to./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2760a30fd0aa0914a7dd8724870a1c43"Four Years Ago/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e70d3fc44c8bc4ae941f142731afadae"Toby/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="718617f23dc77ff6a56f8322cc496022""It's yours, Toby." Alison sobbed as soon as she walked through my apartment door./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e8d8dac7e760b8f680fb600127ea6b22""What are you talking about...you can't be...are you pregnant?!" I ran my hands through my hair and pulled them out again./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="91d6f26dcbb8e2e2c7388046cf41612a"She nodded as years poured down her face. Alison was always the prettiest out of her group of friends, Spencer was a close second, but Alison would always be the prettiest./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="98e9a3b03d8fecfd6e8658bdf81cb033""God, Ali, it was a one-night stand! We used protection for God's sake!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3da384227e46980e9a3deacbc9520465""I know! I don't know what happened!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2243dd0476a0fe1b6206a2599f72c526""What are we gonna do?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="334deeb940f671c9061090a450bb3188""I'm married, Toby! Married! To the most wonderful man on the planet! I don't want this child! I don't want part of you living inside of me!" A sick feeling churned in my stomach to hear her say such evil things./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d07cd9f2f9457b49bfc0241ba792248d""Look, girl, you came to me, remember? You wanted this at one point that night. So don't go around blaming all this shit on me!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="bc7e21c90ae5d57472c2821011e812b0""Okay. Look. I'm going to tell Ezra the truth. But if something happens later on...with us...you have to do some things." I raised my eyebrows at her./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="800ef52dba66f0ecd0dfe1b49c8c71b5""I don't think I have to do anything for you.."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="49bc4450e1a56d33e46cfb91c4e48f58""Grow up, Toby! Not for me, you'll do it for the baby. And for yourself." She snapped./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d230fbd97bbd46e93e45e5554a2a1e56""Explain." I demanded. She sat on the couch and I followed her./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c15d3b98106cf4a124ae85ba22118e83""If something happens...like...if I ever go to jail or cops ever come to my house, you have to come to me. Find us. You'll have to take the baby as your own and you'll go to the bank. Activate the account under the name "Marley Cavanaugh" and take everything. Then you'll have to find my brother. He'll give you passports, ID's, and birth certificates. And finally, you'll need to get custody of the baby."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c185dead3d42197c253c981de497fdf3""What about Ezra? This plan doesn't make any sense, Alison!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="34f67296ddfdaefd52f83d32fa28973b""Yes it does. But I can't tell you anything. The less you know, the better for both of you."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9405c5308faf4372a6f965856332ad9e""Alison?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="184826be0ea6837abb5851807f7a9e2b""What?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="59a560db2ef82f85c51620cbd1882acd""Marley Cavanaugh? Is that the name? Do you know if it's a boy or a girl yet?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="99c5f7089d7257f5dfedf6b93fd7d2e1""Yes, Marley's the name. I don't know the gender yet. Thanks, Toby. I have to go now."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e2174b8d14b9a32fec494a311bc33c38"Present Time (three days after Alison's arresting)/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="eb6520413db841d29c4e424a4033f04b"I was driving back to Philly with Marley in the car. I had done everything Alison told me to. Marley was mine./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="8e0600f25e2aaac07556173b1877c021""Daddy, where are we going?" she asked./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d49f7493d892662b33c01c7c47f76787""We gotta go to court...your other Daddy wants to take you away from me. But we can't let that happen, can we?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b43c9e3c0680d3b0939cc23ebf74387d""No! I don't wanna go with him! Don't let him take me, Daddy!" she cried, tears already threatening to spill out of her eyes./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d98f3cdae8e0d84d67f45b513a9b3c2c""I won't, Mar, I won't. But you gotta do something to."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="27431374e410916f710144e66b035703""I'll do anything if it will let me stay with you!" I looked at her in the rear-view mirror, watching her facial expression./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b900e280ddce3538812fd94faa7480fb""You gotta tell the grown-ups that he hurt you when we get there. You gotta tell them he hit you. And sometimes, he wouldn't stop."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0645372c9cbaf07da2588e1215b643c3"Her face became pale and her eyes widened./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3374fa7c24dfc27ccaf3e2765e42de18""He never hurt me...why do you want me to lie?" she whispered. Panic spread throughout me. I had to think of something, and fast./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="8001ce63e2ae2d01b4a6dd1cdd9d42f5""You need to lie, Marley...or he'll take you. And that Aria lady will be like your new mother. She was the one who made Mommy go away!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="4e9ff8a2775c6164ce2283fdef946335""Miss Aria did all of that?" her eyes turned a shade darker and she closed her mouth together tightly./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f1a73e3663a39416778adb917df4e5c3""Yes."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="14af17cc95e2d6c4eec7cce7b10df542""I'll lie, then. I'll tell them Daddy hurt me and he would keep on hurting me sometimes."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="225193e9e9141eb4e8444ad071812528""Good girl, Marley."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="02ecf08d962281c433e7a123e620a6c5"Ezra/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b40a2004629dc1da47fa82a81b36ebc4"We were waiting in the parking lot for them when they arrived. I saw her before I saw him and I ran toward her./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c026113e7cf25f10d2f13438eee86eb3""Marley!" I called, she glared at me and stepped backwards as I tried to hug her./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="4bc8a2c521595a79b9d1d3b8cf376eba""Get away from me!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7782bbbb7d6d2685c04c66430492175e"I could feel my heart sink into my stomach. I turned around to look at the man who created my daughter./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="202b222ff36ab7cd8c3b548e661014dd""You did this..." I stated it as a fact. He shrugged and smiled an ugly smile. His teeth were disgusting, probably from all the cigarettes he smoked, I could smell the smoke before he got out of his car./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f64ae508a99b9def136d8e0316fed54b""Yah, well Alison was a big part of it, too."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="66a3e779065fdadf114f98449793d1fc"I looked back to Marley and got on my knees so I was as tall as her./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0cfc7d9334c2eb49c3772af650378678""Marley, I don't know what they told you...but I love you. I will always love you no matter what." She chin wobbled a bit as tears started coming from her eyes. I thought she was going to finally give in and hug me, but I was 100% wrong./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c7de5e57430cfb75e7d2812970e63254"She was stubborn, just like her mother./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0f4c1e718cdecdd4812b376de995c5f4""I hate you. You ruined our family and you left me! You left me!" She screamed and ran into Toby's arms./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="8b6d06fd1f3be9964b4dd2f82b11384b"Aria ran out of the building to meet me, probably because she heard all of the screaming, but she stopped as soon as she saw Toby./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="158cabb3ce3c7f69ed2adb0a6af75401""Toby?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a5f390589eddddea253dd43791f51476""Oh, Aria. What a pleasure to see you." He sneered. He walked past her and into the building./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9149b801838525cd1556ff5541fa1044"Today was going to be terrible. I could feel it./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3a74cebf8cfb79daf6733163d124a9bc"I was not going to get custody of Marley./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="fddfa7d15eb6c3e7baae3baa095233ed"It was too late./p 


End file.
